Heir to the Empire: Lost in Time
by Arxanti
Summary: The Republic is strugling through the corruption of the Senate, the Trade Federation blockades Naboo and a Sith Lord is waking to a new galaxy, a Sith Lord that has been forgotten and lost.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Star Wars, Kotor and otherwise, is the property of George Lucas. I make no money from this.

Heir to the Empire: Lost in Time

Prologue

Damien Var was currently in a cave in the Republic world of Naboo. He was the chief archaeologist on a very unusual mission. A pair of children who were playing in the caves near the area had discovered something extremely unusual. There was a stasis chamber in the cave, but it was made from a technology that the Republic had never seen, nothing like it was on record.

The chamber was completely black with a clear window. Approximately ten feet tall on a twenty degree incline. It was made of a metallic substance, somewhat similar to Terenthium Desh plating, he was curious to know who would have such powerful armour on a stasis chamber.

What was truly unique was the man inside the chamber. He could have been no more than seventeen. He had several scars from the look of things as well as somewhat messy hair that was midnight black. He looked around the cavern; it was mostly bare apart from the two fairly large vacuum sealed wooden trunks that were beside the stasis chamber itself. There was a chamber connected to this one that contained a beat up old Dynamic class freighter, but the transponder had long ago succumbed to erosion. His team had little luck in getting into them as they were DNA encoded. There were two Naboo guards at the door, just in case the young man turned out to be a threat.

He sighed. Here was the moment of truth; he could see one of his aides coming up to him with the report,

"Sir," The young man caught his attention. He couldn't quite remember the name, what was it…oh well, it hardly mattered now,

"Yes?"

"We are ready to open the stasis chamber. We have permission from the Queen to proceed."

Damien nodded, this would be it, the chance to find out what had been preserved here and why.

"Do it." The two guards walked over and took up positions in front of the chamber as it hissed and ejected some form of coolant. The door, which was deceiving as they had thought, the hatch to be of a different shape, opened slowly. The man inside the chamber stirred and groaned slightly as he woke up. Damien stepped forward along with a medic.

The medic ran some scans and looked up, "As far as I can tell, he's fine. There is nothing that reads as being physically _wrong_ with him."

Damien nodded and stepped to the chamber, "Can you hear me?"

The young man nodded slightly and leaned forward. He struggled slightly, still trying to wake up, but he stood and stepped out of the chamber. Damien was taken aback when the young man opened his eyes. They were completely white, in perfect contrast to his hair, he was clearly blind.

"Can I help you young man?" he asked kindly. To his surprise the young man scowled for a moment before his features softened.

"I am fine, thank you." He answered politely.

Damien nodded, "May I ask who you are?"

The young man nodded genially, "My name is Travien Shan. May I ask you the same question sir?"

Damien nodded, "I am Damien Var, leader of this archaeological expedition. My assistant here is Dalen Attiyen. I am afraid I have not been able to remember the names of my associates here. May I ask how long you were in the chamber?"

"Of course, I need to know the year before I can give you any information, however." He replied mildly.

"It is 967 years since the Ruusan Reformation." Stated Damien,

Travien thought for a moment, _I remember nothing of any Ruusan Reformation. This obviously occurred after I hid in stasis. I wonder how I was found on such a distant planet, never mind it's not important. If it is nearly a thousand years since this Ruusan Reformation then it must be even longer since I took command of the Star Forge after the traitors killed mother and father. Hmmm, they don't even seem to know who I am. This could work to my advantage. _

Travien shook his head, "I am afraid I do not know what the Ruusan Reformation is. I will have to get to a galactic star chart to be able to tell you that."

Damien looked confused, "Why would you need a galactic star chart?"

Travien smiled, this man was certainly _not_ a navigator, "I don't know what the Ruusan Reformation is. If it took place nearly a thousand years ago then I will have better luck calculating the time via stellar drift. I am also unfamiliar with your conventions for the Galactic Standard Calendar." Travien thought for a moment and stepped forward, "If you'll excuse me, I need to get to my belongings."

Damien nodded and moved out of the way as Travien walked around the stasis chamber with remarkable ease. He walked to the first footlocker, paused for a moment and moved onto the second. He knelt down and placed his hand on a blue circular pad which hummed and said, "May the Force serve you well."

The phrase tickled a memory in the back of Damien's mind but he couldn't remember where it had come from. His mind was taken away from the thought when he saw what was in the first trunk. The top layer was what looked like clothes. The material was thick, black seemed to be a recurring theme with young Travien, but fairly light. The suit seemed to be a single piece body suit that zipped up at the front. They turned around sharply as Travien began simply getting changed in front of them.

It took a few minutes but they eventually heard the sound of the zip being done up. Turning around Damien looked at the suit and realised that what he thought was denser material for warmth was in fact metal plating that had been purposefully dulled. This wasn't a suit of clothing, this was armour! The thought was reinforced as Travien pulled another piece of metal out of the foot locker and fitted it to his chest, apparently a breast plate. The metal was smooth, black and looked new even if there was no shine to it. Everything that wasn't a major joint was covered in fairly thick armour, this included fingerless gauntlets. He gazed at it for a minute before he saw Travien pick up a helmet that quite frankly scared him. The helmet was fairly thin, nothing special; the face plate had a gaunt appearance. The image of shrunken cheek bones and a narrow face plate, decorated in black but with red highlights and no visor. Fortunately he opened the helmet at the back, separating the back into two halves which slid into the helmet making it a mask and clipped it to his belt.

"T…Travien, where did you get that armour?" he stuttered.

Travien smiled, "I made it. The helmet was based on my father's, although I have no need of a visor."

Damien nodded. He watched in amazement as Travien pulled out a lightsaber and attached it to a clip on his upper thigh. He placed a blaster, with holster, on his left thigh and stood up. With a satisfied smile he walked over to the other footlocker, and crouched again,

He smirked, "Open Sesame," the footlocker buzzed away before opening and this time Damien's jaw dropped. With the exception of two red crystalline pyramids, the rest of the footlocker was filled with credits. Travien turned to Damien,

"Could you tell me if these credits are still valid Mr. Var? I would hate to have saved useless objects."

Damien crouched beside and gasped. These credits were indeed valid and every one of them seemed to be ten thousand credits apiece. Whoever this young man had been he was very wealthy, and had decided to bring it with him. This was most unusual for a Jedi, which was what he was if the calm demeanour and lightsaber were any judge.

Damien nodded, "Yes they are still valid. Is there anything we can do for you?"

Travien thought for a moment, "Yes. I would like to see whoever is in charge of this planet, if that is possible."

Damien was slightly confused, "Oh, why?"

The young man smiled, "I will need to find employment and I need to know what qualifications I require. I would hope to work here, on Naboo and as such I will need to learn about its populace. Most importantly I am a trained and active Force user. I've learned that local rulers tend to get…anxious…when we pop up without introducing ourselves." He said, making sure to appear friendly and polite in his intent.

Damien nodded and looked to the guards who stepped forwards. The first guard looked at him, "We can take you to the palace, sir. Would you like us to carry any of this?"

Travien closed the locker and stood up calmly, he then used the Force to lift it off of the floor and up to waist height, "I appreciate the offer gentlemen, but it provides me with some exercise for my abilities. I want to stay in shape after all." He smiled and turned to Damien, "You can have the gear in here to study if you want, I don't need any of it anymore. Just out of curiosity, did you find a ship near here?"

Damien nodded, "Yes. An old dynamic class freighter was separated from this room by a landslide some time ago. The ship is beyond repair I'm afraid due to erosion and age. Why?"

Travien sighed, "That was a ship called the Ebon Hawk. I inherited it from my parents. Oh well," he turned to the guards, "Shall we go. Nothing here but depressing memories."

The two men nodded and led Travien outside where he saw two vehicles; one was a standard brown speeder truck, presumably for the scientists while the other was a two to four person air speeder that the guards had used. He was directed towards the speeder and they left quickly. The guards seemed eager to get him to the palace.


	2. Chapter 2

Padmé Amidala was excited. It was the day after her election and they were due for a meeting with the mysterious young man who had come from the stasis chamber that had been discovered by the scientist Damien Var. Technically it was discovered by two Naboo children but they didn't have their names listed here. Padmé was so excited by this discovery that she had forgone the usual bodyguard and stand in. She knew practically nothing about the man who was joining them. They knew his name was Travien Shan but it hadn't come up on any registers that she knew of. Padmé was pulled from her thoughts when a secretary entered,

"He's here your majesty."

Padmé nodded and collected herself, "Send him in."

The secretary left and was almost immediately replaced by a handsome looking seventeen year old man dressed in what was clearly black armour, carrying a lightsaber at his side with black hair and pure white eyes. She stifled a gasp when she realised he was blind and was outraged that none of her people were helping him, although the trunk floating behind him looked somewhat out of place. She got up immediately but was beaten to the punch,

The man in front of her bowed, "Your Majesty Queen Amidala, I thank you for taking the time to see me. My name is Travien Shan. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Padmé smiled graciously, "Thank you Mr. Shan." She was unsure why, but Padmé was certain that he twitched a she said his name. "Please, have a seat."

Travien sat down in front of her, remaining outwardly relaxed and carefree. Inwardly he was panicking, something was very wrong here. Why the hell had he outwardly twitched at the title of mister. He should be beyond such things. This girl was dangerous.

Padmé smiled at him, "Tell us about yourself, Mr. Shan."

Travien looked around and saw the guards standing around the room. He looked to the young Queen, "May I ask a favour, your majesty?" She tipped her head curiously, "Could we have this discussion in private. My past is not glamorous and I am reluctant to share it with many. Your handmaidens are more than welcome to remain, but I would feel better if the guards left. At your discretion of course, milady." He bowed his head, showing that he acquiesced to whatever her decision would be.

Padmé thought carefully for a moment and nodded to the guards. One stepped forward to protest, "Your majesty, please. What of your protection?!"

Travien interrupted, "Unless six different members of the Jedi High Council suddenly decide that her majesty needs to die…all at once…then she is safe with me. The lightsaber I carry is not a decoration." The man looked appraisingly at Travien,

"Forgive me for being rude, but what defence can a blind man be?" For some reason he just didn't trust this man. He was entirely too calm.

Padmé jumped up at that, "Captain! Please vacate the room immediately. I will not tolerate such rudeness towards our guest."

The guard who was apparently a captain walked out of the room, his soldiers following behind him. Padmé turned to Travien,

"I apologise for that outburst, I am so sorry." She began,

Travien waved it off, "Not at all. I'm glad to see that he doesn't let manners get in the way of doing his job. My guard captain certainly didn't." He smiled slightly, "I was about to tell him that my personal record was only five Jedi Masters at any one time. That was why six was a threat."

Padmé's head suddenly snapped up at that statement. She could see the amused, predatory grin on his face and became very nervous. Why would this man have cause to kill Jedi?

Travien turned to the window, "I was one of the first to colonise this world did you know that? I built a house in what your royal guard tell me is the Lake Country. I hear it belongs to a family by the name of Naberrie now." He nodded, "The guards tell me they're a good family. I'm glad that a decent person got the house." He turned around to Padmé, "You're very dangerous to me your majesty. I don't know why, but I cannot lie to you. Something in the Force, and in your sensitivity to it, almost outright prevents me from doing so."

Padmé backed away from him slowly, "What do you intend to do about that danger?" she was aware that neither her nor her handmaidens were a match for a trained Jedi, Light or Dark.

"Why I am going to do exactly what you asked. I am going to tell you my life story. Have a seat your majesty, I was very serious when I said I was no threat to you. It is very unlikely that there is a threat to you here, Padmé Amidala Naberrie."

Her head shot back to him, as her eyes had drifted to her handmaidens, at the sound of her full name. How the hell could he have known that?! She had no idea that he had reached into the minds of her handmaidens when he walked into the room and had been doing so with most of her guards to find out who he was dealing with.

Travien sat back down in his chair, in front of Padmé's desk, and smiled "Oh this is new. I'm not used to being on the other side of the desk. Allow me to introduce myself, but please, you might want to sit down." Padmé and her handmaidens sat down slowly and warily,

"Who are you then, really? Is Travien your real name?"

He nodded, "Oh yes. I am Darth Travien, only son of Lord Darth Revan Shan and his queen Lady Darth Bastila Shan of the Sith Empire, my father took my mother's name. He was mind wiped by the Jedi you see and nobody knew his surname after the Council deleted all of his records. Upon their deaths, which were not my fault I might add, I ascended to the Sith throne. Yes, your majesty, your nightmares are nowhere near as bad as things can get, you are sitting opposite a Dark Lord of the Sith, given the amount of time that has apparently passed, and I'm still not sure how much that is, there is probably another by now. I will deal with him soon enough though."

Padmé gulped and started shaking. There was a Sith Lord on Naboo. There was a Sith Lord in her office. A Sith Lord that had been released from what was likely his imprisonment by her order. What had she unleashed on the galaxy?! She attempted to collect herself,

"W…What do you want with Naboo?" she stuttered,

Travien shrugged, "To live here, nothing more. Your reaction tells me that the Sith are remembered, if only just. I would like to resurrect my Order and my Empire, but I don't see that happening any time soon. In lieu of that I intend to find work, something to do."

Padmé was stunned, "You want to find _work_?! But, you're a Sith!"

Travien laughed and far from the mad cackling she had expected it was a soft sound. It was calm and truly happy, "Oh my. Thank you for that. I see the Jedi have been telling tales of marauding rapists with no value for life or dignity. I assume we are creatures of absolute disgust that kill to slake our own hideous lusts?" Padmé nodded dumbly.

Travien shrugged, "I'll grant you, there are some like that. Some are exactly what you believe. I am told that Malak was that kind of Sith. The rest of us are…well…we are people who believe we could do a better job. I admit I would like to slake my lusts but they are no more hideous than any other seventeen year old and I have impressive control, although we are a great deal less humanitarian than you. Mostly we believe that we could run the galaxy better than the Republic. As of this moment, that belief isn't highly relevant, is it? In order to conquer the Republic I would need an army, I am unfortunately one army short of actually _having_ an army. For now I would like to teach people to use the Force, those who will not, or cannot, learn from the Jedi."

Padmé just looked at Travien in surprise, "What do you mean, will not or cannot?"

"Simple. There are three Force-sensitive's in this room that cannot learn from the Jedi, you are too old and they would not teach you. I would be happy to."

Padmé looked at him sceptically, "Who and what would you teach? I have no intention of Naboo being the staging ground for your new Empire!"

Travien sighed, "Firstly, yourself and two of your handmaidens are Force sensitive, I will teach you whatever you wish to know. I was schooled in both Light and Dark arts when I was younger as well as having mastered at least four of the seven lightsaber forms. As to your last point, I am not currently planning my own Empire. I explained this poorly before. There is something about the Force that is drawing me to you. If you truly, deep in your heart, do not want an Empire, then I cannot build one. Whatever this is then it works against me. You are a democrat who believes in individual rights, correct?" Padmé nodded slowly, "I am a Sith Lord who is unable to turn this galaxy into something you abhor. Now, you wished to know my life story, correct?"

Padmé nodded, "Yes. I have some questions for you later, but I have a feeling that this will be very interesting."

Travien nodded and smiled slightly, "I hope so. I was born almost a year after the Jedi Civil War." He was interrupted by one of the handmaidens,

"Wait, you're the son of _that_ Darth Revan?!"

Travien raised an eyebrow, "There were others?"

The handmaiden nodded, "Yes. Several copycat Sith were trying to use your father's name and reputation to bolster their own, few of them actually amounted to anything. Most people don't know about the Jedi Civil War, only the really avid history students."

Travien sighed, "Oh well. Little I can do about it now. Anyway, after the Civil War my parents withdrew most of their forces from the Republic, it was collapsing in on itself and they saw the wisdom in waiting. We were waiting longer than they had anticipated as several attempts were made, which were successful, to breath some life back into the Republic. After fifteen years it became apparent that the Republic would survive and my parents began preparing for another war. In the process of mustering their armies they were betrayed and murdered, blown apart as their shuttle left the hangar bay of the ship of a traitorous admiral who had learned to shield his thoughts."

Travien sighed, "I was only fourteen years old but I immediately took control of the Empire. I moved to eliminate the admiral but I failed to anticipate just how far the betrayal went. Soon the Empire was divided in a Civil War of its own. I succeeded in winning the war after two years but it was a Pyrrhic victory. I had only a single vessel left and that was crewed by droids. The last battle had been epic. The leaders of all of the different factions saw the end coming, including myself and decided to go out with a bang. Ten thousand ships gathered outside the Republic in a battle that lasted nearly five days."

The others looked at him with unreadable expressions, so he continued, "I returned to the Star Forge and began working on the stasis chamber. It took me about six months to build it and place it in that cave. I was almost ready to begin starting again, but had to put my affairs in order. In the meantime I built the Lake House as something to keep me occupied. I always imagined that it would be what my mother grew up in on Talravin. The day after my seventeenth birthday I placed myself in stasis to wait for a new galaxy, one that was healed of the Sith Civil War and the Jedi Civil War." He grinned wryly, "Who knows, I might yet get a chance to try again. Nevertheless, my training increased during my brief rule with the Holocrons my parents left me. I quickly mastered the Forms of Ataru, Juyo, Djem So and Makashi. My Soresu and Niman leave some to be desired but they are passable."

The girls sat there for a second and processed all of this. Padmé was especially curious about this man who had apparently built the house she had grown up in. Mostly she was curious about how he felt drawn to her. He may have reprehensible morals and be against everything she believed in but he seemed friendly and he wasn't the monster she had learned about,

"Why do you feel drawn to me?" she asked,

Travien stood up and walked back over to the window, "Good question. I don't know. I have no idea who you really are. I know that you are popular among these people, from what I heard on the way here, and from conversations I _accidentally_ overheard, you're a good person and well loved by these people. Probably be a better ruler than I ever was. The irony is that we took power at the same age and seem to be complete opposites." He sighed, "The Force draws me to you. I don't know you, but I want to. For the first time in my life I want something I can't just take and I seem to relish that fact."

The handmaidens were stunned but smirking slightly. They could recognise the signs of what was happening and didn't believe it to be the Force for a minute, a Dark Lord of the Sith was falling for their Queen. Ha, he was falling again. What they didn't know was that Travien had picked up on their thoughts and privately agreed with them. While he would find lying to this girl uncomfortable, the Force did not have such a hold on him as this. He simply refused to admit it.

_Hah, just as mother conformed to father's beliefs so I shall likely conform to hers._

Padmé looked at him carefully, "I don't think you're being entirely honest with me, but I'll let that go for now. It isn't unknown for monarchs to have personal bodyguards other than the palace guards and handmaidens and I would like to keep an eye on you, I cannot just let a Sith Lord run around Naboo, but how do I know I can trust you?"

Travien shrugged, "You can't. Likewise, how can I trust you? If anything I have told you manages to reach the ears of the Jedi Council then I'm a dead man. They will kill me without hesitation. My life is now yours to do with as you will."

Padmé sat back in her chair pensively, "If I do hire you, will you accede to the standards expected of you?"

"How so?" asked Travien

"There are codes of conduct and social requirements to be met. I am a Queen, what you do will reflect upon me."

Travien nodded slowly, "On one condition." Padmé raised an eyebrow, "While I would not begin to expect this from you or the handmaidens I _am_ the Lord of the Star Forge. I would prefer to be introduced as such. I am expected to follow rules that are alien to me after all."

Padmé was about to agree when the handmaiden from earlier, who she recognised as Eirtaé, interrupted again, "Do you mean that the Star Forge still exists?!"

Travien nodded, "Indeed. Once I have accounted for stellar drift and galactic movement I shall know exactly where it is. It survived twenty five thousand years before father found it. I expect it is still around now."

The handmaiden sounded numb, "It's been just under four thousand years since you entered stasis, by the way."

Travien nodded his thanks and turned to Padmé. She looked at him carefully and spoke slowly, considering each word, "Will you require an advance on your salary, Lord Shan?" Travien used the Force to open the trunk he had brought with him,

"Your offer is generous, My Lady, and greatly appreciated, but unnecessary. As you can see there is more than enough there for me to get by on. There are approximately ten million credits in there. Will that be enough to purchase a place to live do you think?"

The women looked at him amazed. Padmé was the first to speak up after a lengthy silence.

"You won't need to. As my personal bodyguard you will be residing in the palace. When you are on holidays or something I will talk to my parents, I see no reason why you cannot stay in the Lake House that you built."

Travien bowed, "You are most generous milady."

Padmé smiled at him, "I do have a question or two. I hope I don't offend you but I have to ask." Travien smiled slightly and nodded his assent, "Well firstly, how did you lose your sight?"

He shrugged, "One of the down sides to using the Dark Side heavily, when you are not designed to, is that offspring occasionally end up having deformities or defects that cannot be repaired even if they are found quickly. I was born blind but I have the Force to make up for that. It's also why I have never fully devoted myself to the Dark Side of the Force. I was lucky, blindness can be turned into strength, there are stories of some born without particular limbs that are…disposed of. I was fortunate in my parents."

Padmé looked at him in sympathy and Travien laughed, "Don't take it too hard your majesty. Other people have eyes so I can use theirs if I need to."

Padmé nodded, happy that he didn't miss out on things, "My next question was how do you see but you use other people's eyes, don't you?"

Travien shook his head, "Not usually. I tend not to do that because I would grow dependant on it, then get surrounded by droids which is just my luck. The Force connects all things, your majesty. That connection means that I can see anything connected to the Force. You, your handmaidens, even the laser ball you have hidden in the desk drawers, alongside the…well…I shan't mention that."

Padmé blushed heavily, "Does that mean you can see through clothes, as well?"

Travien nodded, smirking, "I can but I don't often. It isn't so bad but if you're in a crowded area looking through someone's underwear and then this fat hairy guy stands in your way and not only do you see through his clothes but you find out he's wearing suspenders and a garter belt as well." Travien shuddered as the girls giggled, "Besides, it reduces my all round awareness." He finished smartly.

Padmé nodded, "Alright. I'll clear it with my council and you will be my personal bodyguard. So long as you tell us what we're doing, I would like to learn how to use the Force as well."

Travien grinned happily, "It will be my pleasure milady."


	3. Chapter 3

Two months had passed since Travien's arrival on Naboo and his employment by the Queen and they had become surprisingly close. It had been a busy two months for Travien; he had tracked down the Star Forge and after a brief field trip, confirmed its location. He had then shared that information with Padmé, who also visited the Forge. Travien had stuck true to his word and taught Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé to use the Force. They had made incredible progress as well. This had caused a great deal of fuss when Padmé had introduced Travien to her council. Sio Bibble and Captain Panaka had been the most vocal,

(flashback)

Padmé, in full regalia addressed her council, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce the man who has become my bodyguard. I introduce Lord Travien Shan."

Panaka stood stunned as Bibble spoke up first, "If I may ask your majesty. What is Lord Travien the Lord _of_?" he asked suspiciously.

Padmé smiled and happily answered the question, praying that her governor was not the student of history that her handmaiden, Eirtaé, had been, "Travien is the Lord of the Star Forge."

Sio Bibble sat down in shock as the others turned to him, "Governor, what is wrong?"

The elderly man looked at Travien, "Do you honour your parents, young man?" The rest of the council was confused by the odd question except Travien, who realised that Padmé's plan had failed, and recognised the Echani style question.

He nodded and smirked, "Yes, I do."

Bibble became hostile immediately, "So, what do you plan to do to us now, Sith Lord?! Will we be your first step in conquering the Republic?!" he snarled. The council gulped and backed away from the man. If Bibble was right then he was about to begin a shouting match with a psychopath, a _Jedi_ psychopath.

Travien stalked forward, "I intend to do exactly the same now as I planned to do yesterday." He paused for a moment, letting them stew for a moment, "I intend to protect the Queen. If you are in the local vicinity I might protect you as well, but don't get your hopes up."

Padmé intervened, "Travien. Leave him be." She commanded.

The young Sith Lord nodded his head, "As you wish, milady." He backed down and resumed his place among the handmaidens, just behind the throne. The others were amazed at this display of obedience from what they believed to be a monster. Panaka glared at him,

"I still want to know how a blind man, even a blind Sith, can protect the Queen!"

Padmé was about to yell at him when she felt Travien shift behind her. She let him answer this one as well, "Firstly, I was born blind. In those circumstances you learn to adapt. And secondly, I use the Force and can see everything in this room, Panaka. Right down to your Hello Kitty boxers and the fluffy pink hearts on your vest, understand?"

Panaka glowered at Travien and stepped back, trying to hide his blush as he heard one of the Handmaidens giggling. Travien turned to the rest of the council, "I am a Sith Lord, make no mistake about that. Tell me though, who better to protect the Queen against the scum of the galaxy than the scum of the galaxy? I have sworn an oath; I don't need your agreement. If we can get along then you might find that I can be useful to have around."

One of the governors tremulously stepped forward, "How so?" she asked.

Travien sensed that he needed to calm these people down or Padmé would get nothing done. He shrugged, "Force Lightning is good at recharging speeders. The Forge gives me the ability to build ships for free, not that _I_ won't charge mind you. I can also get cats out of trees." The group chuckled nervously at that, "I can't believe I'm saying this and am fully convinced that the Queen has corrupted me, but if you need something that doesn't conflict with my duties, then I'll be…amenable to helping."

There was a less nervous chuckle at the thought of the Queen corrupting a Sith Lord and Travien was not met with quite as much hostility, except for Panaka who did not like his Hello Kitty underwear being broadcast throughout the Palace.

(end flashback)

He was currently training Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé in the Force. They were not wearing their usual regalia but tracksuits, although the handmaidens stuck to their traditional red, while Padmé wore white. He was watching them lift some fairly heavy objects, mostly large blocks of steel that he had procured for this very purpose and decided to jump in,

"Good. Lower them to the floor please." The three girls lowered the blocks to the floor and looked at him,

He grinned at them, "Right. I've taught you how to see with the Force, I've taught you how to channel it. There is one last thing I have to teach you before we can get to the truly interesting stuff."

They looked at him curiously; his grin was slightly off putting as he drew a blaster.

"This blaster has been set so that it _might_ leave a blast mark on paper, but nothing more. One of the royal guards has been kind enough to teach me how to hit the broad side of a barn. Today you will be learning to dodge and predict your opponent's actions."

They looked at each other nervously as Travien raised the blaster rifle and let of a single shot at Padmé, who dodged it narrowly and glared at him,

"Hey, you didn't give me a chance to get ready!" she snapped,

"An assassin will not give you warning, you must always be ready!" he snarled as he fired again. This time he aimed at Sabé who dodged by throwing herself to the ground and rolled as he fired again, "Never lose the advantage of movement."

Eirtaé snapped back at him, "Aren't _you_ supposed to protect the Queen?" Travien responded by firing at her and she was forced to bend backwards at the wait to prevent the shot from hitting her.

"My power is my own. For me to rely on any power other than mine is a weakness. Anything given can be taken." He replied, once again aiming for Padmé, who utilised her lessons in acrobatics and somersaulted over the incoming blaster bolt.

He fired again as Padmé landed and she rolled under the bolt and charged at him. He fired repeatedly as she closed but she dodged them all and tackled him. He fell to the ground with Padmé on top of him and laughed happily. The girls, including Padmé looked at him in confusion,

"That is what I wanted!" he exclaimed, "The best defence is a good offense! The best way to stop a blaster is to disable the wielder!" Wrapping an arm around Padmé he used to Force to lift them both upright.

He looked to Sabé and Eirtaé, "You are Handmaidens. It is your duty to protect Padmé against anyone or anything. It doesn't matter if it is Sith, Jedi or even Republic. Anyone is a threat until they prove themselves otherwise, understand?" The two women nodded, "Good, never be afraid to fight back, even against me." He turned to Padmé, "You are Queen. Yes, this is a democracy, I understand your traditions, but weakness spreads. Never be afraid to retaliate or fight for what you believe in. If your sovereignty is challenged, then so is the institution you serve and the people you protect understand?" All three girls were nodding as he spoke, looking quite downcast.

Travien sighed, "I am trying to keep your education as neutral as possible, okay? But you need to realise that eventually, everything comes down to who has the bigger stick. Civility can only be maintained through respect and the threat of reprisal."

Padmé looked sceptical, "Surely there is something to say of respect and friendship? I mean, diplomacy can't be all about guns!"

Travien nodded, "I'll grant you, respect and friendship do go a long way. The problem is that new rulers don't necessarily remember friendship." Travien shrugged, "Meh, maybe I'm wrong, you've already got a better track record than me so who knows, I just want you ready for any possibility."

Padmé nodded, "Let's start again." Travien grinned and raised the blaster.

Another two months had passed since that point. The three young women had again made tremendous progress. All three were wielding a lightsaber with incredible proficiency, especially as they had only been learning for three months, starting just after they mastered dodging. Padmé had in fact confronted him about this,

"How is it that we are learning this so fast? The Jedi say it takes years to reach this point!"

The other two nodded, and Travien smiled, "Yes, normally it does. My father was at your level after the same amount of training though. Admittedly he had been mind-wipe so the muscle memory was there, but it is still a precedent."

The handmaidens nodded but Padmé remained resolute, "No, there is something else to this, isn't there." She asked suspiciously.

Travien sighed, "Can you not just accept that you are doing _really_ well at this?" Padmé shook her head, "Fine. I care about you, okay? How I've come to care about you this much in only four months I don't know, but I do. These two ladies are your only real defence if I'm not there so I've been using the Mind Arts to place the knowledge of your chosen lightsaber styles in your heads. You are in much the same situation as my father. You're essentially remembering something that you never knew you had forgotten."

Sabé looked angry, "You invaded our minds?!" she hissed,

Travien rounded on her, "Save your righteous indignation for someone who cares, Sabé. I did what I had to do to ensure Padmé's safety in any circumstances. Do not preach to me about rights and privacy, despite my less than aggressive tendencies I am a Sith Lord, I don't give a damn. If you're going to throw a hissy fit then do it in private and don't interfere with training. You're getting a memory download from a student of two of the most powerful Sith Lords and Jedi in history if your records are accurate. There are Jedi who would get pregnant so that they could give their firstborn child for the knowledge you are getting. Bitch about the method later."

Padmé stepped between Travien and an angry Sabé, "Travien, we are grateful for this, but I wish you could have told us before."

He sighed, "It was a confidence thing Padmé. You lot are roughly equal to a newly promoted Jedi Knight, you would have been more confident in your abilities if you thought it was just you, I didn't want you to get overconfident either. Maybe it was selfish, I never wanted you to be in a position to be afraid of me, and the faster you learn the less likely that is. Right now you are progressing faster than father or I ever did, do you want me to stop?"

Padmé looked at Travien and sighed. He looked so resigned to the fact that he again had done something wrong. She could appreciate his position though. He was doing something that he was never trained or taught to do; he was elevating someone from a position of weakness to a position of strength. As a Sith that was the very antithesis of his being.

She looked at the Handmaidens and back to Travien, "I don't personally object, but I think you should let Eirtaé and Sabé learn for themselves, okay?"

Travien nodded, "Alright, draw you sabres then. It's time to give you three a real challenge, and see how well you can work together."

The others looked confused, "How?" asked Eirtaé. Travien grinned at her and stepped away from the group. He unclipped his sabre from his customary armour, which now included a black cloak, and ignited the red blade.

"It's quite simple ladies. You will face me, and I will use any dirty tricks that I can. Although nothing scarring." He grinned and brought his sabre into a standard Ataru stance. The girls looked at him nervously but relaxed slightly as they noticed that his blade was on training settings,

"You know," commented Sabé, "It's much easier to imagine facing that red blade than it is to actually do it." The others nodded and attacked Travien together. As he deflected the blades he was more and more impressed. He doubted they realised it but they worked together in an impressive fashion, two would attack while one waited for an opening and as soon as one became tired the third would jump in. It was an impressive strategy given that they had no time to form one.

He grinned and jumped over Padmé's blade, knocking Sabé's aside as he landed. He hurled a Force push at the unfortunate Handmaiden that knocked her off of her feet and drew his lightsaber blade up diagonally in front of his face to block Padmé's blade coming down at him. He kicked out behind him, catching Eirtaé in the stomach as she attacked him from behind. He couldn't block because of the sabre lock Padmé was sustaining. He then did something that no-one expected. He and Padmé had grown close in the last four months but when he leaned his head through the blades none of them, including Travien, expected him to kiss her. Padmé was stunned by the action, as was Travien and they just stopped for a moment, holding the kiss.

This brought a new dynamic to the practice as both Sabé and Eirtaé attacked him from behind. They broke the sabre lock and Travien dodged to the side, deflecting Sabé's blade to his left, while to everyone's shock, Padmé deflected Eirtaé's blade to the right. Padmé and Travien began driving the other two back. They switched between targets regularly, confusing both Sabé and Eirtaé as they danced around one another in apparent harmony. Travien spotted something new as both girls targeted Padmé, having realised that they weren't getting past him. He jumped over all three of them and attacked Sabe from behind, forcing her back to back with Eirtaé. He held his sabre in a lock with Sabé who smirked when she remembered what happened the last time he was in that position and smiled coquettishly. Travien grinned at her and stepped back a pace, causing her to lose balance. He twirled his blade and pushed her lightsaber towards the ground as she lost her footing and held his blade to her throat once she regained her stability. The handmaidens looked at each other in shock,

"What the hell happened there?" asked Eirtaé. They turned to the other two and saw that they were simply staring at each other. She nudged Sabé, "Now might be a good time to leave." She nodded and they left the room quietly. This was the first time they had taken their lightsabers out of the training room. There would be a lot of questions soon as few had been told the nature of the Queen's new bodyguard.

Now that they were alone they hesitantly began to talk. Padmé looked at him, "Where does this leave us, Travien. Where does this take us?"

He barked a bitter laugh, "Where can it take us, Padmé? Sooner or later it will get out what I am. Then what happens to you? These people love you, almost as much as I do, I won't turn them against you like that!"

Padmé looked at him hard, "What if I don't care? I will do everything that I can to ensure that Naboo has everything it wants and needs, but what right do they have to my private life? What if you are a Sith Lord, by your own admission you haven't attacked the Republic. You've had plenty of opportunity to do so. You haven't even used the Forge to begin constructing a fleet!"

She walked up to him, "I am not going to be Queen forever. After I leave office, what then, what will we have if we turn away from this?"

He looked closely and so no dishonesty in her eyes, "Are you sure you want this. You know as well as I do that I have no intention of changing who I am. Can you accept me as a Sith?" Padmé nodded slowly and Travien leaned in and kissed her again. Once they broke the kiss they remained where they were, their arms wrapped around one another. Travien smiled,

"You know, your parents are going to flip." Padmé chuckled,

"So will Captain Panaka." They both laughed together.


	4. Chapter 4

Just over a month later the Blockade happened. Padmé had excelled in her training and pulled vastly ahead of her handmaidens, although they were more than capable on their own. Travien had taught them how to use many Sith techniques without drawing on the Dark Side of the Force. She was fully capable of fighting a Jedi Knight, as Travien claimed, but not yet at his level. Their relationship had grown considerably, although Travien was taking her age into account and refused to take part in anything sexual until she was at least sixteen.

They were currently in the throne room with the other governors. Padmé was talking with Palpatine over the holonet while Travien stayed clear out of his line of sight. They had just begun discussing the representatives of the chancellor when his hologram flickered and died. Travien reached deeply into the Force, attracting the attention of Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé, and he scowled. Padmé noticed this but was beaten to the conversation by Sio Bibble,

"Communications disruption can only mean one thing. Invasion." He intoned,

Padmé nodded and turned to Travien, "Travien, what is it?"

"Fear on the Trade Federation flagship just spiked and if I'm sensing this right, with a fair margin for error, there are two Jedi onboard, currently fighting."

Padmé looked non-plussed, "Why fighting?"

He sighed, "Taking a guess, I would say that they introduced themselves as diplomats rather than Jedi. They were somehow caught out and scared all hell out of the Nemoidians. Not hard, I can assure you. It's quite fun in the right circumstances, but I digress. When you contacted them earlier they were calmly reassuring themselves, now it's as though they have the hounds of hell at their heels."

Bibble looked taken aback, "How do you know all of this? How can you tell what is happening on the ship from here?"

Travien just sighed in frustration, "To be brief, I see through the Force. I…look at things using a Force sensitive version of echolocation, do you understand that, it's very difficult to explain."

Sio Bibble nodded, "Yes, I think I have the idea but…"

Travien interrupted him, "I have been doing this almost all my life out of necessity in an Omni-directional fashion, to see inside the Federation ship requires me to be blind to what is going on here. I can transfer my sight through sheer practice governor. It's hazy over this kind of distance but I can get the general idea." The others nodded in acceptance and the meeting continued,

Padmé shook her head, "Surely they would not dare go as far as to invade." she said,

Panaka agreed, "The senate would revoke their trade franchise! They'd be finished!"

Travien sighed, "It would appear that someone has a bigger stick, love." The rest of the council were surprised at this form of address, but ignored it for the moment in order to be confused by the reference.

Padmé looked around for help and sighed, "It would appear that we must continue to rely on negotiation then."

Sio protested immediately, "Negotiations?! How can we negotiate when we have no communication? We must prepare to defend ourselves!"

Panaka shook his head, "This is a dangerous situation your highness, our security volunteers are no match for the battle hardened armies of the Trade Federation."

Padmé sighed and had a thought, "Travien, you were a military leader, what do you suggest?"

He thought for a moment. "There is little I can do with such time. For once I agree with the captain, you cannot fight them off." He looked to the captain, "Do you have centralized armouries for the guard?" Panaka nodded,

"Of course, why?" he answered,

"Decentralize them, immediately. We have no hope in a pitched battle but a guerrilla movement would work just as well. Sabé, Eirtaé, are you armed?"

They both stepped forward, "Yes Lord Travien, why?"

"One of you stays with her majesty at all times, even when she is sleeping, understand? Given the level of fear from the Nemoidians their actions have become unpredictable. Milady, are you armed?"

Padmé shook her head, "No, it's in my chambers."

Travien huffed, "Eirtaé, if you would?" The handmaiden hurried off to Padmé's chambers and Travien turned to the council, "The only other thing we can do send runners to the Gungans and inform them of the threat. We cannot inform the local populous or it will simply cause a panic."

Sio looked at him, "Armed droids in the streets would likely do that as well." He commented,

Travien nodded, "I know, but people don't riot when the enemy points a gun to their head." He turned back to Panaka, "I need the Palace guard to remain here, but get as many of the others, along with any law enforcement, out of the cities. Have them remain hidden." Eirtaé ran back in with the lightsaber in her hand,

Travien took it and held it out to Padmé, "As your bodyguard I can only say how important it is that you be armed at all times. As your teacher I am telling you to sleep with this under your pillow and as your boyfriend I am asking that you take every precaution to stay safe."

Padmé accepted the lightsaber and thanked him, "I promise I will stay safe, Travien."

He nodded and stepped back, "There is nothing else I can do, short of building a droid army to match the one the Trade Federation has."

Padmé shook her head, "No, I am not willing to condone a course of action that leads us to direct warfare."

Travien nodded, "As you wish, milady." It still amazed the others that the Queen had somehow gained the subservience of one of the most volatile beings in the galaxy.

The group stood outside on the steps of Theed Palace. Travien stood a step behind and to the left of Sabé, who was currently standing in for Padmé. Padmé was standing beside Travien, where he could protect her. She was surrounded by the other handmaidens, including Eirtaé, along with Governor Bibble and Captain Panaka. They themselves were surrounded by almost twenty droids, but Travien wasn't concerned about them. Battle droids were definitely _not_ what they used to be.

He saw a richly dressed Nemoidian approach them with an aide and watched as Bibble opened the conversation,

"How exactly are you planning on justifying this invasion to the senate?"

Gunray appeared to smile, "The Naboo and the Trade Federation will sign a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. I have assurances that it will be ratified by the senate."

Sabé tried to disillusion him, "I will not co-operate." She stated, glaring at him.

_At-a girl!_ Thought Travien.

Gunray continued to smile, "Now, now your highness. In time I am sure that the suffering of your people will convince you to see our point of view."

Travien felt rage course through him at this point. Torturing innocent civilians for no reason other than profit was beneath even the Sith.

"I am going to wipe out your entire species for this, Gunray!" he growled.

The Nemoidian looked at him, "And who might you be?"

Travien smirked, "They call me Darth Shan."

The others looked astounded that he would admit to this but Gunray just laughed.

"You believe yourself to be a Sith Lord?!"

Travien smiled, "Ah, now I understand why you are here. I didn't think you had the backbone to pull this off alone." Lightning crackled in his hand as Gunray's aide began choking and levitating beside him. "My Queen has decided that your pitiful life is in fact worth something, Gunray, and forbidden me from executing you like the gutter slime that you are or believe me everyone in this city would be hearing your screams. Be warned however, for every citizen of Naboo that dies here, I will take a dozen of your kind." He released Rune Haako, who knelt on the floor choking and spluttering.

"And tell your associate that I will deal with him in due time."

Gunray turned to the nearest droid, "Process them!" he snarled.

"Yes sir!" replied the droid. The entourage was led away by the droids as Gunray turned to his aide,

"We must contact Lord Sidious immediately!" said Haako,

Gunray shook his head, "No. We need to know more about the bodyguard first, find that out and then we contact Lord Sidious." Haako nodded and hurried off.

Padmé was walking alongside her boyfriend, "Was that really necessary? Now the entire galaxy will know!"

Travien sighed and continued on the hushed whispers that Padmé was using, "I know, but these Nemoidians are driven by fear. I now know what has scared them, another Sith Lord. They will soon have to decide who they are more afraid of. In the meantime that fear should protect our people." Padmé nodded sadly when Travien looked up and groaned to himself,

"What is it?" she asked,

"Bloody Jedi, there are two of them, a master and padawan. There's another creature there but the Jedi are the only problem."

She looked at him in concern, "Will you be okay?"

Travien nodded, "Yeah, two Jedi are no threat to me, or you. I just worry about whether they can keep their mouths shut. The last thing I need is to deal with the council." Padmé nodded and they continue walking with the group. Travien sighed as they came to a bridge over the walkway and the two Jedi jumped from it. They swiftly disposed of the droids and turned to face the group.

The older one looked around and spotted Sabé, "Your majesty, I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn; this is my padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. We are here to negotiate on behalf of the Republic."

Bibble spoke up, "We know. Your negotiations seemed to have failed, master Jedi."

Travien snickered, attracting the attention of the two Jedi. They both re-activated their lightsabers and pointed them at him. Travien unhooked his lightsaber and activated the blood red blade.

"Who are you, Darksider?!" asked Qui-Gon.

Travien tipped his head, "You have a weapon pointed at me, Jedi. Why should I answer you?"

Obi-Wan looked to the older Jedi, "Master, I sense an unusual amount of the Dark Side in him, even more than in…"

He nodded, "I know padawan." He turned to Travien, "You are a Sith, aren't you? Did you organize the attack on Naboo?"

"No I didn't, but if you want in, I'll let you help with the retaliation." Travien said lightly. Padmé slapped his arm lightly, only succeeding in hurting her hands on his armour.

Qui-Gon was taken aback, "You admit that you are Sith?!"

Travien shrugged, "We are what we are."

Both Jedi moved into an aggressive posture and were surprised when two of the Handmaidens pulled out lightsabers of their own. They were even more stunned when the Queen did the same. Travien smiled at them,

"Now, do you want to work together so that we can get the Queen to safety, or do you want to die? I guarantee you are not a match for them, much less me." Qui-Gon reluctantly lowered his blade in defeat,

"Very well, we shall co-operate with you and your apprentices." He said, much to the amazement of his padawan.

Travien chuckled, "Oh, they're not my Apprentices. They wanted to learn to wield the Force so I taught them. Nothing else." He noticed Qui-Gon's look of shock, "perhaps we should be leaving." He hinted. Qui-Gon nodded and they turned to Panaka,

"Do you have a ship somewhere?" asked Qui-Gon.

Panaka nodded, "Yes, this way."

They group followed the guard captain closely. Qui-Gon didn't pay much attention to the journey. He was deeply confused. The man with the Handmaiden was clearly a Sith and yet he had suggested working together rather than killing both himself and Obi-Wan. He was a darksider and yet he suffered from none of the physical signs, except the whiteness of his eye which could be anything and they way he dismissed them earlier it was as though he didn't consider them to be a threat. He caught a bit of the conversation as Travien was talking with the handmaiden.

"Travien, I thought you said that you spent most of your life outside the Republic?"

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Padmé ran along side him calmly, "Then when did you encounter five Jedi Masters?"

Five!? Thought Qui-Gon. This Sith had survived five Jedi Masters?!

Travien chuckled slightly, "Remember when I set up the stasis chamber in the cave?"

Padmé nodded, "Yes, you didn't use it for half a year, did you. You had to set your affairs in order first?"

"Yep. While I was doing that they all confronted me on Naboo. They came together because they were worried about how much my parents had taught me. I guess being Darth Shan carries a legacy, huh? Bastards, I had to replace all of the floorboards in the dining room because of that." he stated cheerily. Padmé just shook her head.

Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan beside him, had nearly passed out. Who the hell had his parents been? How had he survived five Jedi Masters at once?! What the hell was this stasis chamber? What the hell kind of skill did he wield that the council of his time had felt justified in sending five masters after a single boy who was younger than Obi-Wan?

Travien was thinking something different, _so the current Sith Lord challenges me. I wonder if he knows that I am here, or who I am? He'll be in for a nasty surprise when I get my hands on the little bastard. I'll kill him for threatening Padmé, no matter what she says. If anyone is going to rule this Republic it will be us._

They barely noticed when they arrived at the hangar bay until Panaka brought them to a stop. Travien watched as the Panaka cracked the door open and looked inside,

"Travien, you and the handmaidens will have to take point, there's too many for the rest of us."

Qui-Gon interrupted, "That will not be a problem." He turned to the queen, "Under the circumstances, your highness, I think it best if you come to Coruscant with us."

'Queen Amidala' looked at him, "Thank you for the concern, Ambassador, but my place is here with my people."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "They will kill you if you stay."

Sio looked outraged, "They wouldn't dare!"

Panaka elaborated, "They need her to sign some sort of treaty, they can't kill her!"

Qui-Gon just turned to Sabé, "There is something else behind this your majesty. There is no logic in the Trade Federations move here. You are in grave danger here." Sabé turned to Travien, who groaned,

"As much as I want to disagree with him because he's a Jedi, I have to admit he's right. There is another Sith Lord behind this. The best we can do is get off of Naboo. I don't like it any more than you do, but we have no choice." Qui-Gon looked shocked to be receiving support from the younger man, but was more than concerned by his admission of 'another Sith Lord', indicating that he was, or knew of, one himself. A Sith capable of dispatching Jedi Masters was bad enough, a Sith Lord was even worse. Qui-Gon was sure that he was getting a headache.

Bibble looked at Sabé, "Please your highness. Senator Palpatine will need your help. The Senate may be our only hope."

Sabé turned to Padmé and Eirtaé. The three of them had become much closer than the others during their training.

"Either choice presents much risk…to all of us." She said.

Eirtaé looked at Travien and saw the tense set of his body, "Not as much as you might think." The others followed her gaze and couldn't but be cheered up at the thought of this man protecting them.

Padmé smirked, "We are brave your highness."

Sabé nearly grinned and whispered to Padmé, "Easy to say when your back is covered by the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Sabé turned to the group and nodded. Qui-Gon led the way through, followed by the rest of them as they came face to face with nearly fifty battle droids. Qui-Gon led them towards the ship when Panaka caught his ear and pointed to a group of uniformed men on the ground,

"We'll need to free those pilots over there."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I'll take care of that." and walked over to the group of pilots that were guarded by half a dozen droids. Qui-Gon went up to the lead droid,

The droid guard spoke up before he had a chance to, "Where are you taking these people?" it demanded,

"I am the ambassador to the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic; I am taking these people to Coruscant." Said Qui-Gon,

"Hmm…ah…well…You're under arrest!"

The droids raised their weapons as the Jedi, Sith and…well…others activated their lightsabers. Travien and Padmé dashed forward, past Qui-Gon as they charged the droids, constantly moving in circles around one another. The other two Naboo women wielding lightsabers covered the escape of the pilots as Obi-Wan moved to assist his master. The droids were soon dealt with and Travien turned to Qui-Gon,

"You've got a good padawan there; in as much as a Jedi can be good in a fight." He looked at Qui-Gon's face, "Oh bloody hell, can we just leave." Qui-Gon looked slightly stunned at the display and led the others onboard the ship. Travien separated from the Queen and her Handmaidens as they went to the throne room, and headed to the cockpit only to discover that Qui-Gon was walking behind him.

"Did you know that Sith often get twitchy with a Jedi right behind them?" he asked casually.

Qui-Gon moved up beside him, "I have some questions for you, if that is acceptable to you?"

Travien looked at him, "Two conditions." He continued when he saw that Qui-Gon was paying attention, "Firstly, none of this reaches your council. Padmé frowns on wholesale slaughter on my part and that is what it would be if your lot attack me again. The last time I wasn't interested, now I'm just generally pissed off, okay?" Qui-Gon nodded shakily at the casual threat to the Order, "Secondly, we wait until we pass the blockade." The older Jedi nodded again to this condition and they entered the cockpit and saw that Panaka was already there.

"How're we doing guys?" Travien asked the pilots,

"Just coming up on the blockade, sir." Answered the pilot, whose name tag read 'Ric Ollie'.

Travien nodded, "Any luck with communications?"

Ollie shook his head, "No, still jammed."

_Damn._ Travien thought. He knew that he wasn't a pilot, a swoop racer yes, a pilot no. So he did the only thing he could to help these guys. He sat down in the chair behind him and slipped into the battle meditation that his mother had taught him. Qui-Gon immediately felt the change and looked at Travien, to see that his eyes were shut and he was concentrating hard. The older Jedi gulped as he realized that the young man had slipped into Battle Meditation. He had been unaware that dark side users could perform this ability.

"We're within weapons range of the control ship," called out Ollie. It was almost prophetic as they were immediately stuck by a hail of blaster fire, although a great deal more missed.

"Dammit, we just lost our deflector shield!" cried the pilot. Travien could already sense the droids moving to fix the problem, not that he could influence them in any way. He focused on the pilot and improving his chances. After a couple of powerful hits Travien heard several bleeps,

"He did it, that little droid did it! The shield is back up." He blasted past the Trade Federation ship and jumped into hyperspace. Travien dropped out of his meditation before he thought anyone noticed,

He noticed the captain shaking his head, "What is it?"

Ollie looked up, "There's not enough power to get to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking."

Qui-Gon thought for a moment, "We shall have to land somewhere and make repairs and refuel the ship."

Travien nodded as Obi-Wan spoke up, "Master, here's a planet, Tatooine. It's fairly poor, out of the way and it's not controlled by the Trade Federation."

Travien hung his head and groaned as Panaka spoke up, "How do you know it's not controlled by the Trade Federation?"

The young Sith Lord raised his head, "Because it's historically been controlled by the Hutts. There's nothing there that the Federation would want." He paused for a moment, "Except us, of course."

"The Hutts?!" cried Panaka,

Obi-Wan nodded, "It's risky of course…"

"You can't take her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters, they might discover her…"

He was interrupted by Travien, "They will not touch her, captain. On that you have my word."

Qui-Gon looked sidelong at the man, "Even so, it would be no different than if we landed on a Trade Federation world, expect that the Hutts aren't looking for her." They all turned to Travien,

"Suggest it to the Queen, she will likely agree. I would tell you to shove it and find a different world, but I can feel the Force calling to me as well. The Queen will feel that, what she will do about it is her own counsel. If this turns out badly, then it's on your head." Qui-Gon nodded hesitantly and the group headed to the throne room.

Rune Haako and Nute Gunray sat at a conference table with the hologram of Darth Sidious. His face was obscured by the hood that he wore as he spoke,

"We are in control of all of the northern settlements and are searching for the rest of them as we speak." Stuttered Gunray.

Sidious nodded, "Good. What of Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty?"

Gunray gulped nervously, "There have been some…complications…my lord."

Sidious' voice took on a dangerous tone, "Oh, what complications, viceroy?"

He visibly shook before the hologram, "Darth Shan, her bodyguard, has helped her to escape. A single cruiser got past our blockade shortly afterwards."

Sidious sat back, "Darth Shan? That's impossible…he is long dead." He muttered to himself, "Are you sure of what he said?"

Gunray nodded, "I am, my lord. He choked my advisor, Rune Haako, with the Force before threatening to take a dozen Nemoidians for every Naboo killed. He also used some strange lightning."

Sidious was shaken, not that he let it show, "Viceroy, find that Queen, I want the treaty signed!"

The viceroy trembled, "It is impossible, my Lord. It is out of our range."

Sidious remained stationary for a moment before speaking again, "Not for the Sith." They saw a second person behind Sidious, "This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your missing ship. Do not fail me again, viceroy."

The hologram faded away leaving to very scared Nemoidians, "Now there are three of them, this is getting out of hand!"

Gunray agreed with his advisor, "With any luck, they will destroy each other."


	5. Chapter 5

The main group of Jedi and Naboo were gathered in the Queen's throne room onboard the royal cruiser,

Panaka stood in the middle of the room beside a beaten up R2 unit.

"It's an extremely well put together little droid your majesty. There is no doubt that it saved all of our lives."

Sabé, who was standing in for Padmé still, nodded, "It shall be commended for this. What is its designation?"

Panaka scrubbed some dirt of off the side of the excitable droid as it whistled happily, "R2-D2, you majesty."

Sabé looked at the droid, "Thank you R2-D2, you have our gratitude for your actions. Padmé," she waited until the apparent handmaiden stepped forward, "Please clean this droid up." The 'handmaiden' nodded, and Sabé studiously ignored the blind glower coming from Travien for interrupting what time they would have had together. She began dreading training when she saw him smirk in her direction, even more so when that smirk was joined by Padmé's.

She looked to Panaka, "Please continue captain."

Panaka stepped back and looked unhappily at Qui-Gon, "Your majesty, we are currently heading for a planet called Tatooine. It is a remote world on the outer rim and does not garner any attention from the Trade Federation. There we will be able to repair the ship and continue on our journey."

The guard captain stepped forward, "Your highness, I must object. Tatooine is far more dangerous than the Jedi is making it sound. The planet is controlled by the Hutts; they're gangsters, the scum of the galaxy!" The Naboo all went quiet and looked carefully at Travien as they remembered his speech to Padmé's advisors months ago.

Qui-Gon stepped forward, ignorant of the undercurrents to the conversation, "Your majesty, you must trust my judgment."

Sabé glared at him and turned her attention elsewhere, "Lord Travien, what is your opinion of this?" Qui-Gon started at hearing the young man deferred to as a Lord, it was unnerving for him. Another reminder of the danger his travelling companion presented.

Travien sighed, "I agree with the captain, Tatooine is a far too dangerous place to set down. The instant we arrive we shall attract attention." Panaka looked smug for a second, "unfortunately, we have no choice. It is our only realistic option. You can feel the Force pulling us to the planet as surely as I can your majesty."

Sabé nodded slowly, "Is there no chance that we can reach the Star…"

"No!" everyone was taken aback by the ferocity of his shout, even more so by the glare he sent at her, "We are nowhere near it. It is farther from us now than Coruscant, _your majesty._" The rest of the group was surprised at the tone Travien took with the Queen, all except for Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé. They knew that Sabé had gone too far in mentioning the Forge in front of the Jedi. Travien was now angry.

"If you will excuse me your majesty, I have to see to the training of my students and my self." With that he turned on his heel and stormed from the room. Sabé sighed, she had forgotten about the enmity between Jedi and Sith for a moment. It may well have cost the young handmaiden her education in the Force.

Sabé looked over at Padmé, "Please clean up the droid, and convey my humble apologies to Lord Shan." Padmé cringed and nodded. As far as they were aware the Jedi hadn't known his surname at that point, this would not end well. Padmé walked into the droid maintenance room with R2 to see Travien meditating. This was what he always did when he was angry, he knew that she hated violence and she was grateful for how he suppressed his instincts for her. She remained silent whilst cleaning the droid, knowing that he would speak when he was ready to,

"You know." He said, "Before I met you I would have killed her instantly for an outburst like that." Padmé nodded,

"Have I been a good influence, or a bad one?" she asked, neutrally.

"I can't really say. All I know is that I wouldn't exchange that influence for anything." He said, not moving from his meditation.

"She's gotten you really angry, hasn't she?" asked Padmé, moving to sit in Travien's lap.

He left his meditation and wrapped his arms around her, "If she doesn't learn to keep her mouth shut, she's going to get someone killed. This other Sith means that I may have to use the Forge at some point, if the Jedi find it then they will destroy it as they do with anything that they deem to be the Dark Side."

Padmé sighed, "You think it will come to war?"

Travien shook his head, "This? No. The Nemoidians don't have the stomach to support a full blown galactic war by themselves nor do they have the resources. I don't know how these Sith operate, so it may not be anything more than one bored manipulator. But I _am_ the Lord of the Sith. It is my duty to control those who serve me, and this one _will_ serve me. Or die, whichever, I'm not fussed."

Padmé sighed, "She asked me to say sorry on her behalf. She knows that she should have kept quiet."

Travien heaved a sigh, "It doesn't matter I suppose. She can train from the holocrons for a while. She will have to learn though, I serve _you_, not the Queen, not Naboo, _you_."

Padmé nodded and settled into his arms as they both used the Force to direct certain cleaning implements to remove the dirt form R2-D2. They just enjoyed the opportunity to relax before they were interrupted as a head poked around the door,

"Hello." It said. Both of them looked up at the Gungan they had noticed earlier,

"Meesa Jar Jar Binks." He offered.

Travien was building up to kill him so Padmé intervened, "I'm Padmé. You're a Gungan, aren't you?" she watched him nod and continued, noticing that Travien relaxed slightly, "How did you end up here with us?"

Jar Jar shrugged, "Me no know...meesa day startin' pretty okey wid a morning walkin. Den boom....gettin very scared, an grabbin dat Jedi, and before mesa know it...pow! Mesa here." He shrugged again, "Meesa gettin very, very scared."

Padmé nodded and R2 whistled sympathetically. Travien just lifted his head as the Gungan left the room,

"Did anyone else catch any of that?" Padmé giggled a little, "Apparently not. Fine, the next person who comes in learns to fly, agreed?" Padmé nodded and settled down against him again.

It was over an hour before they were interrupted again. This time the person knocked on the door. Travien looked at Padmé, who was asleep of his lap. He ignored the knocked and carried on making sure that R2 was clean, as Padmé had long since dropped her tools. Unfortunately the knock came again, more insistently this time.

He snarled silently and gently placed Padmé on the floor. He tried to find something to prop her up with a eventually just used the cape that he had recently added to his armour, deciding that whoever was on the other side of that door would have hell to pay.

He stalked over to the door and opened it, "What?" he snarled, coming face to face with a stoic Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Master Qui-Gon wishes to speak with you immediately, Sith."

Travien glared, "Mind your manners, Jedi, that's Sith _Lord_. Now, where is the meddling old sod?"

Obi-Wan glared back, "Follow me." He turned away and Travien followed as the padawan led him through the ship. He took his lightsaber from its clip as well. There was no way he would be around two Jedi without being armed. Obi-Wan stopped in front of a door,

"He's in here." He said, waving at the door.

Travien smirked, "I trust you as much as you trust me, you first, Jedi." Obi-Wan huffed and opened the door, leading the way through. Travien walked in slowly and saw that the room was barely furnished. He spotted the older Jedi waiting for him and remained standing near the door. He inwardly chuckled at the naivety of the younger Jedi.

Qui-Gon watched Obi-Wan come through the door first and inwardly scolded his padawan for letting a Sith get behind him. He watched the young man come through the door with his lightsaber in hand, but not activated. Apparently the Sith didn't trust them, Qui-Gon sighed, that made things much harder. He only hoped that he could help the boy.

"Have a seat, Lord Shan." He waved to a cushion close to Travien. Travien walked over to it and sat down slowly,

"May I ask where you heard that name, Jedi?"

Qui-Gon nodded, it was a fair request, "The Queen referred to you as such after you left." He watched the young man's face darken,

"I see." That was all he said,

Qui-Gon sighed, "Very well. Perhaps we should start with the small questions first, yes?" Travien nodded but said nothing, "You appear to be blind, may I ask how?"

Travien thought for a moment and nodded, "A genetic defect. It is a trait that occasionally pops up in the children of those who use the Dark Side a little too often. My parents were unaware of such a possibility and failed to check for it."

Qui-Gon nodded, "It is rumored. Few Sith Lords ever have children, it is hard to verify." Travien simply shrugged.

"May I ask which of your parents was the Dark Lord or Lady of the Sith?"

Travien smirked, "Both, actually. Their names were Revan and Bastila Shan. Father took mother's name after the Jedi council destroyed all knowledge of who he had been."

Qui-Gon looked at him with wide eyes, "I was unaware that they had had a child."

Travien shrugged, "So are most. You have more questions?"

Obi-Wan interrupted, "How do you move so easily if you are blind?"

Travien looked at the padawan, "You have eyes, don't you? Everyone one this ship has eyes. The only ones with decent mental shields are myself and Padmé."

Qui-Gon looked taken aback, "You enter other people's minds and see what they see, don't you?"

"Occasionally. I have my own methods as well. To rely on someone else's eyes is a weakness that I cannot stand."

Obi-Wan puffed up in righteous indignation, "That's almost mind rape!"

Travien laughed at him, "What do I care, Jedi? Have you forgotten what I am?"

Qui-Gon looked at him carefully, "Indeed. Who is your master?"

Travien sat back at the question, "I have no master. I give my loyalty to Padmé but even she is not my master. I am a Lord. I answer to no-one."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Ridiculous, there are always a master and an apprentice. You are far too young to be a master."

"Always, are there? My mother and father ruled their empire equally. My parents took no apprentices; instead they trained me as their heir. You know little of the Sith, padawan."

Qui-Gon looked at him speculatively, "I am curious. You claim to be their son, and yet they died four millennia ago, how would this be possible?"

Travien returned the speculative look, "You ever hear of the Sith Civil War?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "Only vaguely, there are few records and nothing concrete. Why?"

"I'm not surprised about the records. Me and a ship full of droids were the only survivors and I trashed them at the first opportunity. The Empire fractured after a particularly stupid admiral assassinated my parents. I took the throne shortly afterwards, not easy for a fourteen year old I can tell you. The Empire destroyed itself. I built a stasis chamber on Naboo, entered it the day after I turned seventeen and here we are."

Qui-Gon nodded and Obi-Wan spoke up, "You are being awfully free with information."

This Travien chuckled, "Am I? Have I told you anything that can be used against me? Do you know of my capabilities or powers? Have I told you anything of value?"

Obi-Wan scowled as he realized the truth. Travien had told them absolutely nothing of use to the council.

"So Jedi, what do you plan to do now?"

Qui-Gon looked at him sadly, "I am afraid that standard procedure is to arrest you or kill you, unless you can be turned back to the Light."

Travien let loose a full belly laugh at that point. They looked at him curiously, "What, may I ask is so funny?"

Travien calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye, "The last time the Order sent a team after me it was five weapons masters. All of them died, at once. You two would only get yourselves killed. Even if you did survive you would be heavily injured and I am fairly sure that Padmé, at least, would kill you both. Failing that she would bring it to the attention of the senate that two Jedi attacked and killed a man for no other reason than a 'religious' affiliation. The other Sith Lord holds enough sway to nearly legalize the invasion of a planet, your Order would end pretty quickly after that I think, as this one is clearly an opportunist. The main point though is that I have committed no crime. I have broken no laws."

Both Jedi sat stunned as they realized that the young Sith Lord was correct. They could do nothing to him without jeopardizing the entire Order. What was worse was the way he sat there smirking at them, knowing that they could do nothing. He smirked at them and got up. As he headed towards the door he looked over his shoulder,

"You are aware of what telling the council about me would cause, aren't you?"

Qui-Gon nodded bitterly, "Death."

Travien smiled and left the room, heading back to where he left Padmé. Obi-Wan looked to his master,

"What should we do, master?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "Travien is quite right, my young padawan. There is nothing that we can do. I must find out everything I can about his parents when we return to Coruscant. In the meantime we will focus on the immediate problems. The Trade Federation and this other Sith Lord. May the Force help us."

Travien entered the droid bay to see Padmé sitting up. She looked as though she had just woken up and Travien moved to sit beside her. She looked over at him blearily and noticed the sparkling astromech on the other side of him. Leaning into him she began to talk,

"Where did you go?" she asked,

"The ickle Jedi wanted to talk to me. Well, he demanded to talk to me. I didn't want to wake you up only for you to have to listen to some sanctimonious bloody preacher. That's basically what it turned out to be. I got away just before they started preaching about the evils of the Dark Side."

Padmé just laughed tiredly, "If I can't turn you from the Dark Side, then they won't be able to."

He looked at her for a moment, "Do you want to?" Padmé looked at him in confusion, "Do you want to turn me from the Dark Side?"

Padmé shrugged, "I love you as you are. You wouldn't be the same person if you weren't Darkish."

He chuckled, "Darkish, that's not a description I've heard before, I have to admit."

Padmé shrugged, still slightly sleepy, "You're a Sith Lord, but you don't commit genocide or eat babies, so you're darkish." He smiled as she fell back into sleep and stood up. He leant over and picked Padmé up in his arms and carried her out of the droid bay. He headed to the throne room, where the others were still discussing things.

He walked in, Padmé in his arms and looked at them. The Jedi had evidently rejoined the rest of the group,

Travien looked at one of the handmaidens, "Eirtaé, could you tell me where Padmé's quarters are, please." The handmaiden nodded and hurried over to lead him to the room as Sabé called out,

"Lord Shan, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Travien paused for a heartbeat and then continued to walk out of the room, with Eirtaé in tow.

"She didn't mean it you know."

Travien nodded, "I know, but that's not the problem. Padmé knows how to pay attention to these things, it's her job. If Sabé is gonna keep slipping like this then she is going to get Padmé, and herself, killed. If she does the first then I am going to ensure the second. Besides, the Jedi are looking for an excuse to get rid of me."

Eirtaé nodded slowly. This was more than just keeping secrets; this was about life or death. They all played the game and Sabé was losing. They eventually reached Padmé's quarters and Travien laid her down on the bed so that she could get some sleep. Travien shrugged off his armour and climbed in behind her. He wasn't planning anything, but he had been suppressing his aura since the Jedi had arrived and it was exhausting for someone as powerful as him. He lay down behind Padmé and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Sabé walked into Padmé's quarters later on, once the ship had landed on Tatooine. She had removed all the apparel of Queen Amidala and entered the quarters dressed as a handmaiden. Strictly speaking she was here to tell Padmé that they had arrived on Tatooine and that the Jedi was planning on leaving soon. She had sensed Travien in there with her though.

She walked through the doors and coughed lightly, unwilling to approach the bed, Travien had delivered a serious injury to one unlucky servant who had done that. She was correct as Travien somersaulted out of the bed, his lightsaber flying to his hand and activating. Sabé staggered back as his raw, unsuppressed power ran through the ship like a shockwave. It wasn't just the power that brought Sabé to her knees but the darkness within it. They knew that he was a Sith Lord, but they never truly grasped exactly what that meant. Suddenly she realized why the Jedi hunted these beings with such fervour. Sabé would never hand Travien over, but she understood why they were afraid of such power. She grinned internally, _and to think, that's my teacher._

Travien looked at her as she knelt on the floor. Padmé was largely unaffected, having felt his unrestricted aura on an occasion or two when he gave her something to aspire to. She saw her friend on the floor and knew what had happened,

"You are brave handmaiden. To come here knowing that you face my anger, your dedication to your Queen is impressive." Sabé trembled; they had always dealt with Travien. Travien was calm, relaxed even if he had a somewhat Dark sense of humour. The language, the tone and the stance, despite the fact that he was in his boxers, all told her that this was Darth Shan. He looked at her as though he were judging her.

The two Jedi ran in to the room, lightsabers active and looked at the scene before them, not fully comprehending. They felt the Darkness coming from the man and charged at him, only to be thrown into the wall when Travien twitched his head. As they sank to the floor, Travien suppressed his aura and turned back to Sabé, catching her with his blind stare.

"Rise, friend of Padmé," Sabé stood up slowly as Travien deactivated his sabre. "You nearly betrayed my trust, however this was done out of ignorance, and can be forgiven. Once. I will continue your tuition as before. You will learn not to speak of that which you do not know. Padmé trusts you, and despite this incident I feel that she continues to trust you but you will not make this mistake again."

Sabé nodded, "I swear I won't."

Travien nodded, "Good." He turned to the Jedi, "Your presence is no longer required, Jedi. You have my gratitude for your quick response to what you deemed as a threat to the Queen. Whether you meant it as such I neither know nor care."

The two Jedi looked at each other stunned and walked out of the room slowly, dismissed. As they walked down the corridor Obi-Wan turned to his master,

"How the hell did he deal with the both of us so quickly? That level of power was beyond even master Yoda!"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "I'm not certain padawan. I would dearly like to know his midi-chlorian count, but I doubt he will part with such information. We had best be wary Obi-Wan. We now know that we cannot deal with this threat alone and we cannot inform the council. At least not until we reach Coruscant." Obi-Wan nodded and they headed off to inspect the hyperdrive,

Back in Padmé's quarters Sabé stood in front of the other two,

"I wanted to tell Padmé that we have arrived on Tatooine. I sensed you in here and decided I needed to apologize before anything else. I forgot about the Jedi. I had become so accustomed to the only Force users being you and us that they didn't even register. Between us they don't seem as powerful as they did when I was younger."

Travien sighed, "Look you are going to have to be more careful Sabé. You have no idea how grateful I am that you take this risk for Padmé, but slips like that could get her killed. I was planning on making you learn from the holocrons for a while, but I think that we can forgo that punishment, this time. I have to remember you are not Sith and the same rules don't apply to you three."

Padmé walked up and hugged him from behind, "Thank you."

They looked at Sabé, "So, how're we doing?" asked Padmé.

Sabé sighed, "The Jedi along with Captain Ollie are saying that the hyperdrive is gone. We either need some spare parts or a new one entirely. That's not going to be easy since we are on a practically uninhabited dust ball. It gets worse though. The Jedi want to head into the town to buy another one with Republic credits. I'm sure Travien knows what credits are worth here."

The man shook his head, "Absolutely nothing. This planet is beyond the borders of the Republic, and ruled by the Hutts. There is no chance of getting anything with credits."

Sabé nodded, "Exactly. I've tried telling him this but he says that I need to trust his judgment. I don't suppose we could say that the Hutts killed them, could we?"

Travien laughed. He wasn't sure how or why the girls were getting Darker but he suspected that it was his influence. It was a strange kind of Darkness that contained a form of innocence as well, like they thought they wanted to be Dark but didn't understand what it meant,

"As much as I would love to, and believe me I would, we kind of need all the good will we can get."

Sabé sighed again, "Anyway, he insists on taking the Gungan as a cover, to make himself less conspicuous as a Jedi."

Travien snorted, "Alternatively he could tell people the truth, say what he's thinking and leave his lightsaber here."

The girls had a good laugh at that when Padmé looked thoughtful, "You know, I've never heard of Tatooine before this. I'd kind of like to look around, see what's here. I know you two have said there's nothing here, but it would be nice to see something different."

Travien shrugged, "If you've never heard of it, Padmé, there's probably a reason. But what the Lady wants the Lady gets."

Sabé nodded, "I'll let you two get dressed and have Captain Panaka inform Qui-Gon when you are ready to leave."

They nodded to Sabé as she left and they began to get dressed, not in the least uncomfortable with their lack of clothes around each other. Padmé smiled at him,

"Just out of curiosity, why are you sleeping in here? Not that I mind." She asked

Travien shrugged, "With the Jedi on board I don't actually _have_ a room on this ship. If you remember it was commissioned before I turned up."

Padmé nodded in realization, "Oh god, I am so sorry!"

He shrugged and smiled at her, "That's okay. It means I can share your room. After putting all my credits in that bank you suggested I have a remarkably small amount of stuff. I'll probably have to get some spare clothes in the market or something though."

He just smiled, "I'll find a way somehow." Secretly he was wondering whether there were any swoop races on the planet.

They finally got dressed, Padmé wearing a moisture farmer outfit, while Travien stuck with his armour. They met Panaka at the exit ramp of the ship,

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Padmé nodded to him, "I want to know why we were drawn to this planet, just as much as the Jedi does. Besides, we might find something useful here."

The guard captain looked at Travien, "Oh no, don't look at me. My days of ruling are over for now; I do what I'm told now. If she wants to explore then it's my job to protect her. I might be having words with our Jedi friend if he does anything spectacularly stupid, but nothing more."

He sighed, "Fair enough, but I really don't like this."

Travien looked at him, "You know captain, the longer I know you the more we agree on. If this keeps up I might actually have to start liking you." Panaka barked a laugh and led them over to where Qui-Gon was gathering with R2 and Jar Jar,

"Master Jedi," he called.

Qui-Gon turned around and saw them. He almost groaned,

"The Queen commands that you take her handmaiden with you, she is curious about the planet."

Qui-Gon just shook his head, "No more commands from the Queen today, I think captain."

Travien jumped into the conversation, "You see Jedi, that's the wonderful thing about being an absolute ruler like a Queen or an Emperor, they really don't have to give a shit what people like you or I think."

Qui-Gon glared at him, he really didn't like this Sith. "This is a dangerous town, _Mr._ Shan; I would be remiss in my duty to protect these people if I allowed this."

Travien shook his head, "Firstly, your duty was to peacefully resolve the blockade. You fucked that in a spectacular fashion. I, along with the good captain here, actually get paid to protect these people. It's _our_ job to protect them. If Padmé wishes to go, then Padmé gets to go."

Qui-Gon huffed, "Very well young handmaiden. Please keep you boyfriend under control, I will not be held accountable for a massacre."

Travien snorted as the Jedi turned away, "As if there are enough people here to actually massacre. It would be a slaughter at most. Besides, this is the only set of clothes I brought with me and blood is a bastard to get out."

Panaka shook his head as he walked away. He reflected that putting the Jedi together with the Sith Lord was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. Travien could get under that man's skin without even trying. Then again, Travien could get under anyone's skin without even trying, except Padmé, who seemed to like having him around.

Padmé grabbed Travien's hand and dragged him after the Jedi, "Do you have to wind him up so much. One day he's going to snap and attack you, you know." Padmé sighed, "And that's exactly what you want, isn't it?"

Travien grinned at her, "Me, my love? How could you accuse me of something as heinous as trying to corrupt our esteemed Jedi friends? I'm genuinely hurt."

Padmé chuckled, "Only because you got caught."

Travien grinned and nodded. Padmé huffed a sigh and leaned into him, his arm wrapping around her as they walked into the town of Mos Espa. They looked around at the dingy sandstone shanties and badly made huts. Travien knew that they would find what they were looking for here, it simply depressed him.

They gathered in the corner, "We need to find a junk dealership or something." said Qui-Gon.

Travien rolled his eyes at the obvious statement, "Well, as you've decided that you're in charge, would you care to suggest where we might start looking?"

Qui-Gon glared at him, "As of yet, no I don't. The Force will provide."

Travien nodded, "Okay, well while you meditate on it, I'm going to ask the old lady over there who actually lives here. She probably knows where to find stuff as people her age don't travel alone, unless they're Jedi and then it's for a reason. Feel free to catch heat stroke while you're waiting for inspiration."

Travien walked over to the old lady, leaving the rest of the group staring at him in shock.

"Excuse me ma'am, I was wondering if I could impose upon your time?" he asked.

She looked up at him, "Such a polite young man. What can I do for you?"

He smiled ingratiatingly, "Well, I was flying my ship a little way out of the city and accidentally crashed. I suppose I should have listened when my parent's told me that a blind man can't be a pilot."

"Oh you poor dear, do you need a doctor?" she asked sympathetically, making Travien cringe inside.

"No ma'am, I'm uninjured, but I did damage a very expensive Nubian vessel. Do you know anyone in these parts who might deal in that kind of equipment?" he asked.

The old lady thought for a second, "Well, the only one I know of is Watto down the street. He's a Toydarian. He's not the fairest of dealers but better than some on this planet. Do you need a guide?"

He smiled, "Thank you for your offer, but my girlfriend is waiting for me. She is more than kind and frequently assists me."

She nodded, "Good for you young man."

Travien bowed slightly, "Thank you madam. Is there anything I can do to repay such kindness?"

The old lady laughed slightly, "No, you run along now."

Travien smiled once more and returned to the group. Qui-Gon looked at him in shock, "How did you do that?"

"Simple Jedi, I told her the truth, or close to it. Most don't know about the Force and take my blindness as a disability. I told her it was my fault and she was eager to help. Now, we are looking for a Toydarian by the name of Watto who is just down the street, whatever that means to a local hereabouts. His reputation states him as less than fair, but slightly better than most."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Very well, shall we go?"

The others agreed and Travien looped his arm back around Padmé's waist. He pulled her towards him as she complied happily. They walked off behind Qui-Gon and were checking multiple shops until they found the right one.

They walked in and were greeted by a grim looking blue Toydarian in a waistcoat,

"What do you want?" he asked.

Travien leaned into Padmé and whispered, "Wonderful service here isn't it?"

She giggled as Qui-Gon spoke to Watto,

"We're looking for parts to a J-type Nubian. We were told that you were the person to talk to."

Watto stroked his chin as he hovered, "Hmm…Nubian. Difficult. What parts do you need, that's a pretty rare ship."

Travien nodded, "Should be, it was practically custom built."

Qui-Gon ignored him, "We are looking for parts for a T-14 hyperdrive."

Watto nodded, "I got what you're looking for, I'm the only one who does around here though. Let me call in the boy and we'll go have a look."

He called out in Huttese, "Boy, get in here!"

It took a moment, but a small boy ran in from the back wiping his hands on a rag. He flinched as Watto moved to hit him but the blur Toydarian found he couldn't move. Padmé looked nervous and Qui-Gon looked over at him as he felt Travien use the Force to hold him in place,

Watto shook himself after Travien let go, with a nudge from Padmé, "What took you so long?" he continued in Huttese, "Ah, never mind. Watch the store while I attend to our customer."

They watched as the Jedi followed him out into the yard after telling Jar Jar not to touch anything. Travien wasn't even slightly amused when he made faces behind the Jedi's back and Padmé held him still,

"C'mon Padmé, let me kill the bastard."

Padmé held firm and didn't notice the young boy staring at her, "No." He sagged as the boy spoke up,

"Are you an angel?"

They both turned to the now blushing young boy, "Pardon?" asked Padmé,

"An angel. I've heard the spacers talk about them. They come from the moons of Iego, I think. They're supposed to be the most beautiful creatures in the galaxy."

Padmé looked between them, "I've never heard of them."

Travien nodded, "I have. I met a diathim once. What you," he nodded to Anakin, "call an angel. I have to say, I wasn't quite taken with them, but then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It might be that they didn't take to me."

Everyone looked at him, "Alright so I travelled a lot when I was younger."

Padmé turned back to the boy, "You're a funny little boy, how do you know so much?"

He thought for a moment, "Since I was, three, I think. My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt. She lost us in a game to Watto, I've been here ever since and the spacers all talk."

Padmé looked surprised, "You're a slave?"

He glared slightly, "I'm a person, and my name is Anakin!" he was cut off when half the droids and machines in the room began compacting in on themselves. They began sparking as Jar Jar jumped away from the one he was inspecting. Padmé wheeled around on Travien to see a look of barely controlled rage on his face. Anakin was panicking, "What's happening?!" he shouted as Qui-Gon came rushing into the shop. Watto followed the Jedi and saw the carnage.

"What did you do to my shop?!" he exclaimed,

Travien glared at him, "Quiet, _slaver._" He snarled and turned to Qui-Gon, "You bought the parts yet?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, he was fully aware of what had Travien so angry and decided now was not the time to argue, "Our friend here refuses to accept credits,"

Watto jumped in, "Right, no money no parts."

Travien nodded, "Fine, kill him and take them anyway. Next time listen to the goddamn briefing before you decide that the universe is how you think it should be."

Padmé just wrapped her arms around him, trying to calm him down as Watto went back a foot, "What d'ya mean, kill me?"

Qui-Gon turned to Travien as he stepped in front of Watto, "That is not the Jedi way. We cannot simply kill him and take what we want."

Anakin looked star struck when Qui-Gon said Jedi, he was shaken out of it when the other man replied, "Yeah, well I'm not a Jedi. Step aside and let me kill the fracking slaver." He said, activating his lightsaber.

Padmé released him and stepped aside, much to everyone's surprise, "If you need to kill him then do so. But you know that the instant you do, Qui-Gon will try to arrest you and take you from me. If you kill him then the entire Order will hunt you down." Travien took a deep breath and stepped back, switching his sabre off,

"It looks like you survive this day, scum. Know this, should I find that you've hurt the boy or his mother I will return." The scared Toydarian nodded. Travien looked to the Jedi, "If you'd listened to anything but the voices in your own head you would have known that he wouldn't be interested in credits, if you listened to your master, whoever that unfortunate bastard may be, you'd also know that Toydarians are remarkably resistant to mind tricks, especially greedy ones. I suggest we go and find something with which to trade, yes?"

Travien turned to Anakin, "By the way, lad. What's your full name?"

The boy gulped, "Anakin Skywalker, sir."

Travien nodded, "Good name, good name. I suspect I shall see you soon, Anakin Skywalker." With that he turned and left the shop, Padmé and the other's hurrying after him. Padmé caught up with him out on the street,

"What the hell happened in there Travien?" she asked as Qui-Gon was about to arrive and lay into him,

He turned slightly, "When I was eight years old I was kidnapped by a rival Sith with designs on my parent's throne. He realized that having me was a death sentence and sold me into slavery before vanishing into the Republic. It was six months before my parents found me by which time I had already been marked as a slave. I took the tattoo off with a lightsaber as soon as I could get hold of one. My sight wasn't as accurate back then, so I missed a couple of times. That's all there is to it." He said shortly.

Padmé shook her head, "No it isn't, but I won't push you."

Qui-Gon was not as willing to let it go as he caught up with them, missing their last exchange, "What the hell was that. Yes, slavery is a bad thing, but you may have just ruined our only chance to get off of this planet!"

Travien just began walking away, "I have no interest in your self important chatter Jedi, remain silent or be silenced. You choose." Padmé walked up beside Travien with R2 and Jar Jar following them.

"Is yousa okay?" asked Jar Jar. Travien smiled, he had taken a liking to the quirky Gungan, "Not exactly Jar Jar, but I will be. Thank you for asking." The Gungan nodded and stepped back.

Padmé looked around, "How are we going to find something to trade?"

Qui-Gon stepped forward, "We shall have to look around this town. I will signal Obi-Wan to have check what we have onboard the ship." The other two nodded, and walked around the town. Padmé leaned in to Travien,

"Did you feel how powerful that boy was? He was almost as strong as you!"

He nodded, "I know. If he's a first generation Force user then that is impressive. I wonder if I can convince him to learn with us, rather than go with the Jedi."

Padmé looks at him, "You think he would make a good Sith?"

Travien nods slowly, "Oh definitely. The bitterness I hold from my slavery fuels the Dark Side like you wouldn't believe, and that was only six months. I would worry that his would consume him, though. No, I was planning on teaching him as a neutral, like you."

Padmé nodded, "Well, we need to free him first, don't we?"

Travien smiled, "I'm fairly certain that the Jedi is already trying that. I will take whatever plan he makes and improve upon it to bring the boy's mother with us."

Padmé gaped at him, "That's manipulative!"

Travien smirked and wrapped his arms around her, "Why thank you my love." Padmé giggled as Qui-Gon attracted their attention,

"I'm getting a call from Obi-Wan; do you want to join us?"

Padmé nodded and they wandered over to the alcove that Qui-Gon currently inhabited.

"Obi-Wan, how goes the search?"

They heard the disappointed voice over the communicator in the Jedi's hand, "I'm sorry master but we can't find anything. A few containers of supplies, the Queen's wardrobes maybe, but nothing to barter with, not in the amounts you're talking about. Not unless you can separate Lord Shan from his armour."

Qui-Gon sighed, "Very Well. I'm certain another solution will present itself. I'll check back with you later."

Qui-Gon clicked off the communicator, "He has a point though. That armour would be very valuable, it is clearly custom made."

Travien nodded, "And under normal circumstances I'd agree in an instant, but until we get to Coruscant this is the only item of clothing I have. Why else would I wear black armour in a desert?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "Let us see what the Force brings us, then." He walked onto the main street again,

"Oh no. No' again. Weesa bein robbed and crunched out dere!" cried Jar Jar.

Qui-Gon turned to him, "That s the problem, we have nothing worth stealing in the first place."

They wandered out into the market place, Travien keeping his arm around Padmé as if to protect her from the locals. The discovery of slavery on the planet had significantly soured his view of this world, not that it needed it. The hot climate of the planet was doing no good for his disposition. He would normally have killed something by now. He wondered whether that was a good thing. Travien suddenly looked around and saw that Jar Jar was gone.

"Guys, where's Jar Jar?"

They all whipped around and Qui-Gon groaned, "Oh no. He's over there, about to put something in his mouth."

They watched as Jar Jar wandered up to a stand that had a set of dead amphibian creatures hanging in a display. Travien almost closed his eyes as the idiotic Gungan snaked his tongue out and drew one of the creatures into his mouth, just as the owner of the store came out,

"Hey, you gonna pay for that?!"

"Huh?" was the only sound that the confused Gungan could have made as he currently had his mouth full.

The owner nodded, "Wupiupi."

Jar Jar let go of the amphibian that was still attached to the line, causing it to go flying off in the other direction, "Wupiupi?"

Travien just pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw the amphibian land in the drink of a particularly nasty looking dug. The dug wandered over to Jar Jar, the creature in his…appendage…and knocked him to the floor,

Like many of the natives he spoke in Huttese, "Is this yours?" he asked.

Jar Jar shook his head rapidly, "No, is not mine, is not mine!" he pleaded. Travien was already walking over to deal with the dug when they heard a younger voice call over to him in the same language.

"Watch it Sebulba. This one's connected. His friend trashed half of Watto's store 'cause he was upset, didn't even move."

The dug, apparently Sebulba snorted, "Why should I believe that?"

Travien smirked from behind him, "Maybe seeing is believing? This man is my friend, whatever happened was without a doubt an accident. I think an apology will suffice, both for his mistake and your brutality."

Anakin smirked as well, "Careful, wouldn't want you messed up before our next race, Sebulba." Sebulba snarled at them both and turned to Anakin,

"If you weren't a slave I'd crush you right now."

Anakin smirked at him, "Yeah, it'd be a pity if you had to pay me."

Sebulba growled and left. Travien walked over to Jar Jar and helped him stand up, brushing him off at the same time,

He looked to Travien, "Whys it allays mesa?"

"These beings, like that dug, can sense your fear my friend. They are predators in a world of people. Think nothing of it; you didn't need to be stronger than everyone to make friends Jar Jar. As soon as their strength fades, so will their friends, old age will be a bitter companion for them."

Qui-Gon stepped up, "Thank you young Anakin. Our friend would have been in serious trouble if you had not intervened."

The blonde boy shrugged, "Your friend was about to be turned into orange goo. That dug was a particularly nasty one by the name of Sebulba. He's got a bad temper and the money to match it, especially in these parts. Your friend was going to get hurt badly."

Jar Jar shook his head, "Meesa sorry. Meesa no likin' crunchin'"

Qui-Gon looked at him, "Nevertheless, the boy is right, you were heading into trouble." He turned to Anakin, "Thank you for helping him, Anakin, we are most grateful."

As they were walking Jar Jar shook his head, "But mesa done nothin', what did mesa do?"

Anakin looked at him, "You were afraid."

"Huh?"

Travien smiled at them, "He was aware of his own weakness, Jar Jar and sought someone he perceived to be weaker than himself. It is the only relief he can ever find from his own doubts."

Anakin nodded, "I just need to pop over to that fruit stand, okay?"

Travien nodded and the group followed him as he spoke to the old lady. She turned her eyes to him after helping Anakin, "Well hello young man, did you find Watto?"

"Indeed madam." Travien bowed slightly and Anakin was surprised to see his demeanour change so rapidly, "I found a great deal more than I was looking for, and only slightly more than I wanted. Thank you for the directions." The old lady looked around for a second and turns to Anakin,

"You'll want to rush off home, Ani. There's a storm brewing up." She said as she began to pack up her stall. Anakin looked around at the others.

"Do you have a shelter?" he asked them,

Qui-Gon nodded, "Yes, we'll head back to our ship."

Anakin stopped for a second, "Where is it?"

"On the outskirts." Answered Padmé

Anakin shook his head, "You'll never get there in time. Sandstorms are very fast and very dangerous, you'll get lost in seconds. Come with me, we have to hurry." He smiled at Padmé, who smiled back uncertainly.

Travien leaned in while grinning, "I think he has a crush on you." Padmé slapped his arm and followed the others. After a short walk they were in the slave quarters of Mos Espa and Anakin hurried up to a weatherworn door and rushed through.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Jar Jar followed them in and looked around, "Hmm, thisem loverly." He said. Travien was glad that Anakin had left them in the hall. Slaves could be awful sensitive about their homes. He rushed back in with his mother,

"Oh Anakin, who are these people?"

Anakin stopped and looked sheepish, "Uh, I'm sorry, I don't know your names."

Travien stepped forward with a smiled, "Not a problem young man. My name is Travien Shan, the lovely lady here is Padmé, the man in the dressing gown beside me is Qui-Gon Jinn," for which he got glared at by the Jedi, "and my friend here is Jar Jar Binks." He turned to Shmi, "I apologize for our unwitting imposition, ma'am but we were unaware of the severity of sandstorms on Tatooine and your son kindly offered us shelter."

She smiled affectionately at the boy, "That's my Ani, always trying to help people." He squirmed slightly at the praise as any boy of that age does in front of guests. Anakin dragged Padmé off to his room as she sent Travien a last despairing glance, he grinned at her and waved. He remained with the others, letting Anakin show Padmé whatever it was he wanted her to see.

Travien turned to his mother, "Again, thank you for letting us remain in your home."

She ducked her head, "It's not much I know but…"

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I understand," she looked puzzled and he took of the armour plating at the front of his uniform and unzipped the suit, pointing out a large patch of scar tissue on his chest. He put his armour back on,

"Where I come from they marked us with tattoos, to show they we were no longer our own."

Shmi looked at him, "You were a slave?"

He nodded, "Briefly when I was your son's age, but sufficient that I still have nightmares."

She nodded, "It's good to know that someone understands, my name is Shmi Skywalker, by the way." He extended a hand which Travien shook,

"Travien Shan, pleasure to meet you."


	7. Chapter 7

Travien followed Qui-Gon out to a balcony like structure, a surprise in slave quarters. He heard the communicator spout the voice of the padawan, Obi-Wan,

"The Queen is upset; her people are dying after all. I made sure they sent no transmission." Claimed Obi-Wan's voice,

Qui-Gon nodded, "Good, it sounds like an attempt to establish a trace."

"What if it is true, master, what if they are dying?"

Qui-Gon slumped, "Either way, we are running out of time." He shut down the communicator and Travien stepped forward,

"I never did that you know."

Qui-Gon jumped and looked at him, "Did what?"

"I never tortured people because I could. I never attacked an innocent person just to track down an individual. It lacked…honour."

The older man looked at him as Travien leaned on the sandstone wall, "Honour? What do the Sith know of honour?"

Travien smiled slightly, "Quite a bit, actually. Those of us who aren't completely consumed by the Dark Side have to hold on to something. Mum and Dad held on to each other. I only ever had my honour, I know I'm not a moral or ethical creature but I've never enslaved someone against their will. I've never bombed a planet of civilians into submission. I've occasionally bombarded planets, but they were mostly military installations."

Qui-Gon looked at him, "What of slaves? I doubt anyone would want to be enslaved."

He shrugged, "I was reticent about that at first. But pleasure slaves, not sex slaves mind you, these were masseuses and the like, they told me that they didn't have to worry about tomorrow and what it would bring. I made sure that they had food, clothing and comfort and all I asked in exchange was the occasional back rub. I suppose it would have all gone to my head if I'd had time."

Qui-Gon waited and let him talk,

"I could never attack someone weaker than me, you know? Maybe this is my uncle Canderous' influence, but attacking a world like Naboo, there's no point to it. The very basis of the Sith Code is three things. Firstly the Dark Side, that's obvious, secondly is superiority. If there's no challenge in attacking you're not proving anything. Victory at any cost is not acceptable; it means that it's false."

Qui-Gon leaned on the wall beside him, "I have not heard this point of view before. I never knew there was this side to the Sith."

Travien shrugged, "You probably won't again. When my parent's discovered the cause of my disability they nearly abandoned the Dark Side altogether. I was taught to control _it_, rather than let it control me. Few can, you know. I struggle at times. Padmé probably could, if she ever wanted to learn, not sure that I would want to teach her though."

The Jedi paused for a second, "What is the third part of the code?"

Travien chuckled, "That's the Jedi. You kill us, we kill you, you know. It's more of a grudge match between the Shan's and the Jedi Council though."

"How so?"

"It starts with the Mandalorian Wars, really. Council of the time abandoned the Republic; dad went to fight the Mandalorians who invaded."

"My master was sent to fight the Mandalorians."

Travien chuckled, "They always turn up, don't they? Anyway, the Order split in half. Some stayed, some went. By the time the war ended the council hadn't changed their minds, Dad saw it as the ultimate betrayal and wanted rid of the Order. He saw a problem."

The Jedi's brow furrowed, "What problem?"

"The Jedi and the Republic are symbiotic beings; one cannot last long without the other, not now. Dad left for two years and eventually came back with an army, going after the weaker of the two opponents to bring down the other."

Qui-Gon nodded, "He went after the Republic."

"Yep, I won't bore you with the details of the war, but it was brutal. About two or three years in Dad was captured, the Council erased his entire life. They disposed of any files in the Republic and Jedi databases, they wiped his memory, everything. Some stuff was put back later on after he vanished, but it was a complete wipe. After a year they gave him some basic training, let him think he was a padawan and sent him after Malak. When mum was captured they made an attempt to assassinate her, rather than try to free her, her battle meditation was all they wanted and the Sith couldn't be allowed to have it. They then made him kill his best friend, his brother in all but blood."

Travien sighed, "The next time a Sith Lord had anything to do with the Republic it was me. I was on Naboo, building a house so that I wouldn't have to sleep in the open while I set my affairs in order. I figured that any hope of doing anything was shot. The galaxy was hunting the Sith and the Empire was gone. I couldn't have settled down to start a family. One day, just finished the floorboards in the dining room and I'm confronted with five Jedi Weapons Masters. Sufficed to say, I won. That's it, the great conflict between the Jedi and Sith is because neither can remember who stole who's toy at the beginning."

Qui-Gon laughed, "I had never thought of it that way."

Travien smiled, "Well, I'm out of it now. I'll train Sith if they want me to. I'll build an army if I need to; given my successor's actions I think I might. But I can't attack the Republic. Padmé lives and breathes democracy, her entire life exists around the freedom of choice and I can't take that away from her. I know where my father's resources are and I could have used them at any time, I might do if I want a personal ship and I'm too damn tight to pay for it. Although I will admit, if anyone is going to rule the Republic it will be me and Padmé."

He looked at Qui-Gon's shocked face, "Tell your Council what I am. Tell them I'm no threat to you, unless they should see fit to antagonize me and then I don't show mercy to stupid Jedi. As for me, well, I'm seventeen years old and I'm tired of war. Now I think I'm gonna try and get tired of peace for a while." Travien walked off as Shmi called that dinner was ready. He left a pensive Jedi behind him,

Darth Maul stood beside his master, Darth Sidious looking over the Coruscant nightscape. He wondered what would happen to them,

"Eliminate the Jedi first, my young apprentice. Once they are dead, you will have no trouble returning the Queen to Naboo. Tatooine is lightly populated; you should have no trouble finding them." Intoned Sidious,

"Of course master." Maul hesitated for a moment, "What of this Darth Shan, my master?"

Sidious snorted, "The man is an imposter. Darth Shan vanished four millennia ago. Kill him along with the Jedi."

Maul nodded, "At last we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi at last we shall have our revenge."

Sidious nodded, "You have been trained well Lord Maul. They are no match for you and the power of the Dark Side. They cannot avoid their fate. However you must be cautious. Darth Shan should be long dead; if he has survived the intervening millennia then he will be the most dangerous opponent you have ever encountered."

They group were all sitting down to dinner with Shmi and Anakin. Travien and Qui-Gon had both surreptitiously slipped their own food supplies into Shmi's stores before hand, each congratulating themselves on being so stealthy.

Shmi and Anakin were telling the group about slavery on Tatooine,

"They place a device inside a person's head." said Shmi,

Anakin nodded, "Any attempt to escape and they blow you up, BOOM!" he slapped the table to emphasize his point.

"How rude." Said Jar Jar.

Travien couldn't help but notice that Padmé looked heartbroken, "I can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws…"

She was cut off by Shmi, "The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must fend for ourselves."

Travien nodded and then chuckled as Jar Jar snapped a piece of fruit from a bowl the other side of the table with his tongue. It seemed just the sort of unassuming action that was quintessentially Jar Jar. Everyone turned to stare at the Gungan, who ducked his head,

"Scuse me."

Anakin looked around nervously, "Has anyone ever seen a podrace?" Padmé and Jar Jar shake their heads, Travien nods, to the surprise of Padmé and Qui-Gon spoke up,

"I have, on malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."

Anakin looked at them, "I'm the only human who can do it."

They looked at Anakin in amazement as Travien spoke up, "Not quite." They wheeled round to look at him,

"I was always more taken with swoop racing, but I managed to finish a few podraces when I was a couple of years older than Anakin here. I was never really taken with it, but they weren't particularly well equipped. I'd like a chance at another if it were any good though."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Indeed. You must have Jedi reflexes, young Anakin."

Qui-Gon's arm snapped out and caught the Gungans tongue between his forefinger and thumb as Jar Jar tried to grab another fruit from the bowl. He looked at the struggling and startled Gungan. "Don't do that again."

As Jar Jar shook his tongue and Anakin looked at Qui-Gon in awe Travien decided to even things up,

"Reflexes aren't everything, you know." He used the Force to pickup a fruit from the bowl and bring it to himself, "There are always other ways."

Padmé smiled at the sight of two grown men fighting over the boy's attention. She knew what it really was, Qui-Gon was trying to convince him to become a Jedi and Travien wanted him to make his own choice.

Anakin looked at Qui-Gon seriously, "You're a Jedi Knight aren't you?"

Qui-Gon looked at him, "Why do you think that?"

"I saw you're laser sword, only Jedi carry those." the boy answered confidently.

Travien grinned, "Hear that, you're slipping in your old age, Jedi."

Qui-Gon glared at Travien for a second and turned back to Anakin, "Maybe I killed a Jedi and took it from him."

Anakin shook his head, "Not possible, you can't kill a Jedi!" he stated firmly.

Qui-Gon looked wistful, "How I wish that were true."

"I don't." said a grinning Travien, "I'm more than happy with your mortality Jedi. Not so happy with my own, but I deal with it."

Qui-Gon smirked at him, "We don't need comments from the peanut gallery, thank you milord."

Anakin looks at Travien, "But I saw your laser sword too, aren't you a Jedi?"

Travien shook his head, "No, I'm not. I am a Sith Lord."

Anakin looks at him, puzzled, "What's a Sith Lord?"

Travien thought for a second, trying to make his answer comprehensible to a nine year old, "A Sith Lord, well to start with we are the leaders of the Sith. I'm the last of those who can honestly call themselves Sith." He paused, "If you think of the Jedi as a religious order…"

Qui-Gon interrupted, "We are not a religious order though. We are spiritual yes, but not religious."

Travien looked at him, "Do you, or do you not live in a temple?"

Qui-Gon stuttered for a bit, "Well yes we do but…"

"Thank you." He turned away from Qui-Gon, "If you think of the Jedi as a religious order, then they are one extreme of belief. They believe in meditation, peace, harmony and that sort of thing, okay?"

Anakin nodded and Travien carried on, "The Sith are more about emotion. We tend to go for the extremes of emotion. Hate, anger, love, joy, basically we're a group of people who can't sit around; we have absolutely no patience and have to be doing something. We're fairly dark and not particularly humanitarian but we have our points. Our perspective is as incomprehensible to the Jedi as theirs is to us."

Anakin nodded, "So you fight."

Travien shrugged, "A fair bit, mostly the Sith fight other Sith."

His brow furrowed, "Why would you fight other Sith?"

Travien shrugged, "We're all control freaks, really. We can't stand not being in charge."

Anakin shrugged, "Are you here to free the slaves? I had a dream I was a Jedi and freed all the slaves" he asked.

Travien shook his head and looked at Qui-Gon on desperation. Qui-Gon nodded and took the lead again,

"No Anakin, I'm afraid we're not."

"I think you are, why else would you be here?" he asked innocently.

Travien got up from the table, "Excuse me," he walked out of the room, followed by Padmé. She saw him leaning against the outside of the hut, using the Force to deflect the sandstorm around him. She did the same and walked up to him,

"Travien?" she reached out to touch his arm and saw that he was crying, but angry,

"He deserves better than this Padmé. They all do. This shouldn't happen to anyone. He doesn't deserve it and neither did I!" She held him as slumped to the ground against the wall. "Kids shouldn't suffer like that. I spent three bloody months in a Bacta tank after what they did to me and it's taken four thousand bloody years and the love of my life before I can even hold someone's hand! I was thrashed to within an inch of my life and tortured, just because my parents were Sith! The slavers who bought me considered it an opportunity to have their revenge on my parents, so did their friends."

Padmé held her gasp as she realized much he must have been made to suffer as a slave, she held him closer as he let it out. The winds around them picked up and sparked with the blue lightning of the Dark Side as he let out his pain. Soon enough the wind was roaring and bits were coming free from the rock formations around them.

Inside the building Qui-Gon looked at Anakin and ignored the Force fuelled storm outside, "I can see there's no fooling you Anakin. We're on our way to Coruscant, to get help from the Senate there. It's very important and must be kept secret." He said after a brief pause.

Anakin looked amazed, "Wow…Coruscant. But what are you doing on the outer rim?"

Qui-Gon smiled, "Our ship was damaged when we left the planet. We had to set down here to make repairs."

He perked up, "I can help, I can fix anything!"

Travien and Padmé walked back in after Travien collected himself, despite the howling winds outside. Travien clearly had tear tracks down the side of his face,

"I have little doubt that you can, Anakin. Unfortunately we need to get the parts first." He said as they sat down.

Jar Jar slumped, "And we got no nuttin moola to trade wit."

Padmé shook her head, "These junk dealers must have some kind of weakness that we can use against them."

Shmi smiled at her, "Gambling. They cannot resist gambling. Everything on this planet revolves around betting on those awful races."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Greed can be a powerful ally." The other were in deep thought as Anakin spoke up,

"I have a podracer, fastest one ever built! There's this huge race on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod, it's almost finished."

Shmi shook her head vehemently, "Anakin, settle down. Watto wouldn't let you…"

"Watto doesn't know I've built it." He turned to Qui-Gon, "You could make him think it's yours and let me race."

Qui-Gon and Travien looked at Shmi, who was clearly upset at the idea of letting her son race,

"No, I don't want you to race, Ani. It scares me every time Watto puts you in one of those awful things."

Anakin protested as much as he could, "But mom, I love it. I love racing and they need help, please. The money from the race could easily pay for the parts they need."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "Your mother is right Anakin and as Travien said, there is always another way. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic that we can ask for help?"

Shmi shook her head, and Anakin tried again,

"Mom, we have to help. You say that the biggest problem in the galaxy is that no-one helps each other. Well they need our help, please, let me help."

Shmi looked as though she were struggling for words, "Anakin don't…" She was interrupted as Jar Jar belched and apologized. Travien looked at Qui-Gon in the silence that followed, who nodded.

Padmé looked to Shmi, "Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We can find another way."

The older woman shook her head, "There is no other way. He was meant to help you, born to help you. I certainly don't like it, but there is no other choice."

Padmé sighed as Travien spoke up, "Yes there is." They all looked at him as he turned to Anakin, "Can you teach me how to fly your podracer?"

Anakin looked sceptical, "No offense, but how can a blind man…" he was stopped as Travien caught an apple that Qui-Gon hurled at the side of his head. He looked between the two men for any sign that the display had been arranged. That thought was disproved when the apple caught Qui-Gon in the forehead on the way back.

"I have no doubt that you can race. I also know how you manage it, but your skill is raw, untrained. Mine is not. I have been racing for a long time, Anakin. I will not risk another for my own gain."

Anakin sighed, "Alright, I'll teach you."

Anakin placed his empty plate in the refresher and slunk of to his room, disappointed that he couldn't race. Shmi turned to Travien and Qui-Gon,

"I cannot thank you enough for keeping him out of this race. Are you sure you can do it though?"

Travien nodded, "Swoop racing is usually a little faster than podracing but it doesn't last as long. I ran a couple of podraces when I was younger, so I'll be fine." Shmi nodded and thanked them once again. She cleared her space and left the room.

The group turned to him,

"Are you sure about this, Travien?" asked Padmé, "I know how you feel, but…"

He gulped, "I have to do this. I won't let him race just to help us, it wouldn't be fair." Padmé nodded in agreement,

Qui-Gon stepped forward, "I had foreseen the boy winning the race and was planning on using that to free him."

Travien sighed, "I know. I saw the same thing. You of all people should understand that it wasn't right, Jedi." He sighed again, "I may be a bastard and I freely admit to having glassed more than one civilian world, but I will never manipulate or force a slave into doing something that I could have done myself." With that he left the room and headed to the sleeping area that Shmi set up for them.


	8. Chapter 8

Travien woke up the next day feeling refreshed. He took a moment to get up before realizing that he couldn't. He looked around to find out why he couldn't get up and noticed a mane of curly brown hair spread over his chest, he followed the hair to the head it was attached to and saw Padmé half lying on top of him. Apparently she had come in at some point during the night. Travien smiled, he didn't understand how he was so comfortable with this, but he accepted it anyway.

He took a while to revel in the fact that Padmé had come to him but remembered that they had a lot to do. He shook Padmé slightly,

"Padmé, love. It's time to wake up. We have a lot to do today."

Padmé groaned, but remained still, "I was going to teach you how to use the Force in a fight, remember?"

Padmé perked up and looked at him, "I get to use lightning?"

Travien chuckled and nodded, "Yes love, you get to use Lightning. Now we can't do that in bed."

Padmé nodded happily, now fully awake. She jumped out of the bed and ran back to her room to get changed. Travien chuckled and began to get his armour back on. He was thankful he had been using the Force to make a small cooling breeze around him or the armour would reek.

Shmi watched Padmé run past in her underclothes and turned to Qui-Gon, "Are they always that intimate?"

The older Jedi, who had been up early, nodded, "Yes. I believe that Travien serves her, rather than the Queen of Naboo. He helps because it is convenient for Padmé."

Shmi shook her head, "How does someone so young become so apparently powerful?"

Qui-Gon chuckled, "If everything I've learned about Travien is true then his parent's tuition is easily enough to accelerate his learning. Travien himself appears to be a driven individual." They were still talking when Padmé walked past them again, this time she was carrying a lightsaber.

Shmi turned to Qui-Gon, "Is she a Jedi, like you, then?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "No. Travien is teaching her. He tells me that she is merely a student and not a Sith. Whether that is true or not, I don't know."

Shmi looks at him piercingly, "I noticed some tension between the two of you yesterday, why?"

Qui-Gon sighed, "There is traditionally a great deal of tension between the Jedi and Sith Orders. We have fought wars over our beliefs. If Travien had never met Padmé I have no doubt we would have tried to kill each other at first sight. Entire worlds have been decimated in the conflict between Jedi and Sith."

Shmi looked troubled by this, "Why?"

Qui-Gon shrugged, "The Jedi view the Sith as the height of all evil. They usually take without thought for others and are self centred in the extreme. There are a small and select group, more powerful than the usual Sith called the Dark Lords of the Sith. Travien is a Sith Lord the likes of which I have never heard of. His experiences have forged him into a different kind of Sith, a Sith that could perhaps co-exist with the Jedi." He trailed off quietly and looked at Shmi, "Perhaps we should follow young Padmé. I am curious about how Travien has been training her."

Shmi nodded and they walked out into the main courtyard to see that Anakin and a group of children were already gathered near the houses. Qui-Gon chuckled inwardly. He knew that he would have to battle Travien to get Anakin to join the Jedi. He should have realized that the Sith do not play fair. They both looked to the middle of the courtyard where Travien and Padmé stood in front of one another.

Travien grinned and activated his crimson lightsaber. Padmé did the same. Qui-Gon was surprised that she was using a red lightsaber, as was Travien,

"You changed the crystal. Why?" asked Travien.

Padmé shrugged, "It felt right."

Travien nodded, "Okay, before we fight I want you to know how to deflect lightning. Fire it at me and open yourself to the Force; I want you to see what I'm doing."

Padmé nodded and raised her hand in a claw like fashion, letting her lightsaber fall beside her. Qui-Gon was about to dash forward, when lightning shot from her fingers straight at Travien. Travien simply grinned and raised his lightsaber to block the tendrils of energy. They slammed into his sabre as Padmé maintained the attack. Eventually she realized that she would not overpower him and stopped her attack.

Padmé grinned, "I have to say, I'm impressed."

Travien shrugged, "Lightning is a fairly basic Sith trick. Blocking puts you ahead of ninety percent of the half-wit, knuckle dragging morons who think they're Sith because they don't have to pay the electricity bill. Now, try again when I give the signal."

Padmé nodded and Travien switched his lightsaber off and hooked it to his belt. He looked at Padmé and nodded. She raised her hands again, a little pensively this time and fired the lightning again. Her eyes opened wide, along with those of Qui-Gon and Shmi when Travien extended his arm and caught the lightning. Padmé watched as it formed a glowed blue white ball in his hands. Padmé stopped her attack and watched as the energy stayed in his hands. Travien looked at Qui-Gon for a second. He turned to Padmé and smiled,

"This is why you can never be disarmed." He stated,

Padmé looked curious. Yes the lightning was powerful but it was nowhere near as useful as a lightsaber.

"What do you mean?"

Travien grinned and his face took on a strained appearance as he concentrated. Then to the shock of everyone watching them the ball of lightning began shifting and sparking. Soon it was no longer a ball, but to everyone's amazement it was the same shape as a lightsaber. Travien grasped the end as he would with any other sword.

He was breathing heavily, "It will take you years to learn this, if you're lucky. When I was studying I had no other obligations so I studied nearly twenty four hours a day. I control my powers, not the other way around." Padmé nodded dumbly,

"Now my love, attack me." He stated with a grin. Padmé raised her sabre and charged him. Qui-Gon watched the display in awe and more than a little terror. He began to wonder if the Jedi Masters who had attacked him had actually been a challenge. Yes he had been taught by Revan and Bastila, but even they had not demonstrated this kind of control over the Force. For the first time in his life Qui-Gon was afraid for the future of the Order. It was a terrifying thing to watch as the 'lightning sabre' held up to the attack.

He watched as Padmé and Travien fought with a ferocity and skill he had not seen outside the council. Travien would deflect and attack only for Padmé to attack him again a mere moment later. All the time they were smiling as the young woman seemed bent on trying to kill him. The apparent duel had been going well for Padmé until a particular block and Travien began to fight back. His attacks came faster now and his 'lightsaber' was almost a blur. Travien pushed back against Padmé until they were caught in a sabre lock. Qui-Gon saw them both move slightly and anticipated that they were going to head butt each other. He was surprised when they leaned forward and kissed each other.

He turned to Shmi, who looked on with amazement, "I think we know how things got started, at least."

She nodded and watched as the two combatants broke away from each other. Padmé fired lightning at Travien again and watched as it seemed to destabilize the 'sword' in Travien's hand. Travien opened his hand and let it dissipate. Padmé charged forward at that moment and began swinging her sabre. Travien laughed happily and began dodging the lightsaber by moving his body slightly. He drew his sabre a few moments later and clashed with Padmé again. He began pushing her back again. He started batting her sabre backwards, using the circular motions of Djem So to push the blade in its weakest direction. Eventually he spun around, catching Padmé's hand with the hilt of his lightsaber and flinging the now de-activated blade away. He pinned Padmé to the wall that she had been backed up against and kissed her again. He grinned,

"Surrender, love?" he asked,

Padmé placed both hands on his stomach and smiled lovingly, "Never." The rest were confused as they heard that until Padmé channelled a Force blast through her hands, flinging Travien away and calling her lightsaber to her. Travien impacted the wall the other side of the courtyard. It was fortunate that the wall wasn't an attachment to anyone's home as Travien was embedded in the wall from the strength of Padmé's attack. They all looked on in horror at what Padmé had done. Even she looked concerned until Travien opened his eyes and grinned. He pulled himself out of the wall and released some of his hold on his aura. It was the first time he had done that when they were sparring. It was the first time that he had to.

Qui-Gon gulped as he felt the darkness within the young man and shuddered at the feeling. He was slightly uplifted to see Anakin shudder along with him. Travien began walking forward. Small sparks of lightning arcing into the ground where he stepped. He reached Padmé and extended his hand. Everyone was terrified until they saw it close around the lightsaber blade. Eyes bulged at that, especially as the cuts Travien had gained seemed to heal before their eyes and the lightsaber flickered. He released the blade and stepped back.

"I have to admit, it's more efficient when you drain the energy from a living being, but that will have to do."

The Dark Side flowing through him enhanced his remaining senses and he stood just over ten foot from Padmé. He dropped his stance as he faced her, placing his right foot forward and his weight on his left foot. He presented his profile to the woman he loved and brought the hilt of his lightsaber up by his head. Finally he pointed the blade, after a small flourish, at Padmé.

"You have learned well, sweetheart. Your memories are integrating faster than even I predicted. Let us see how far you have come."

Padmé nodded and gulped slightly. This would be much harder than any of her previous training. Little did they know that some of the children had recording devices and were taping the duel. She shifted into her favourite Makashi stance. Bringing her lightsaber into position she attacked Travien with her best. She was mildly disappointed when he deflected all of her blows with ease. He kept this less circular movements going and began to attack back. His movements were now sharp and precise. The sabre never went anywhere other than its destination. The flourish and flow of Djem So was gone, replaced by the sharp precision and ferocity of Juyo. Padmé was surprised at the sheer strength behind the blows and she could sense that he was using the Dark Side to empower himself.

Travien continued to land blow after blow on her failing defences. Padmé knew that there was nothing she could do and was barely holding up against this assault. She tried to back away but he followed. Eventually she was simply too tired to carry on. Travien batted her sabre aside one last time and it fell from her hands. Travien stopped and looked at her. He let the Dark Side leave him and dropped his lightsaber on the sand and rushed over to Padmé. She wavered on the spot and Travien caught hold of her. She grinned weakly,

"I think I've improved. I also think I need to sleep." Padmé closed her eyes and Travien summoned both of their lightsabers to him and clipped them to his belt using the Force. He picked her up bridal style and carried her back into Shmi's house. He was followed by Anakin, Qui-Gon and Shmi. Travien placed her on the bed he had used and reached his hand out. Qui-Gon was surprised when his communicator flew from his belt and into Travien's hand. Anakin was about to tell him not to take things when Qui-Gon placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

Travien activated the communicator, "Hello?"

An irritated voice answered, "What do you want Sith Lord?" asked Obi-Wan

Travien snarled, "A galaxy blissfully free of interfering pacifists like yourself, Jedi. I'll settle for you fetching the handmaiden Eirtaé." He had no patience for the irritating padawan when Padmé needed help.

Obi-Wan growled at him, "What if I should refuse?"

Travien rolled his eyes, "Remember to whom you are talking, Jedi."

There was a moment of silence, and then a female voice came over the COM link, "Lord Shan, this is Sabé, what can I do for you?"

Travien frowned, "Where is the Queen?"

"Resting. She has had a difficult time of things recently." came the reply.

Travien nodded, "Padmé has over-extended herself, again. I need a standard training kit and a gallon of water. I also want you to bring it yourself or send Eirtaé, understood."

"Understood My Lord, is there anything else?"

Travien frowned for a second as he felt a strange presence appear in his senses, "In fact send the younger Jedi and Rabé instead. I want you two near the ship incase anything happens. I do not want the interference of another pacifistic meddler around the Queen. I do not trust these Jedi at the best of times."

Sabé's grin could be heard, "Absolutely My Lord, I will send the Jedi along with Rabé. What if he refuses?"

Travien sighed, "Without the Queen to give commands you and Panaka are the authority on the ship. If he doesn't like it he can buy his own bloody ship to be in charge of."

"Yes my Lord." With that she cut the connection.

Anakin looked at Travien, "Why did she call you a Lord?"

Travien turned slightly to acknowledge him, "Because that's what I am, the Lord of the Star Forge. One day, with Padmé's permission, I may even begin rebuilding my Empire." Qui-Gon's breath caught. He needed to use the Archives to find out more about Travien's parents, but he knew full well about the Star Forge. If Travien was the Lord of the Star Forge that must mean that it still existed. Qui-Gon had a terrible thought, _What if this is what he meant by his father's resources? What if he has used the Forge already?_

Anakin's eyes bugged out, "But why are you here? Why would a Lord or an Emperor care about slaves?"

Qui-Gon looked at Travien, "I must confess, I am curious as well."

Travien sat down beside Padmé's sleeping form and turned to Anakin, "My parents ruled the Empire before me. A political enemy of theirs tried to hold me to ransom. After the rather brutal deaths of his conspirators he decided that having me near him was a death sentence. He sold me into slavery and hid himself within the Republic. My time as a slave was unpleasant to say the least. I required a great deal of healing after those six months. I spent two months in a Bacta tank. Up until five months ago I responded poorly to any form of physical contact. I became the more brutal of my father's Sith. Slaves within my Empire were treated fairly. Even then, if there were slaves it was a life they had chosen. I made certain that no one mistreated another person in my Empire. Abuse didn't happen."

Anakin gulped at the darkness in Travien's blind eyes and changed the subject, "Lord Travien, sir. Do all Sith train that hard?" he asked quietly

Travien nodded, "Most do, yes. Originally, before father brought a semblance of civility to the Order, killing a superior officer was seen as a way to rise in the ranks. In order to survive a Sith had to be the best. After father stopped that kind of behaviour it became a matter of pride. We were Sith. We were supposed to be the best. We pushed all of our boundaries; we broke all of our chains. Although, Padmé is not a Sith. That is a misconception she seems to encourage. Padmé is in fact a neutral."

Anakin frowned, "What's a neutral, sir?"

Travien smiled slightly, "Firstly, Anakin, call me Travien. A neutral is a person, just like you, someone who is trained in the Force but doesn't ascribe to an Order or a particular set of rules. I am training three at the moment."

Anakin looked at Padmé, "If you trained me, would I train like that?"

Travien shrugged, "That's up to you, Anakin. I don't dictate how hard the girls train. The others proceed at a pace more suitable for them. One of my students is at the level of a relatively experienced Jedi Knight, another at the level of a newly promoted Jedi Knight. Padmé is by far my best student. I'm not sure what level I would pit her at. She certainly surprised me. If she can do that without passing out again then she would rank at about the level of Jedi Master."

Anakin gaped at the sleeping form of Padmé when Qui-Gon spoke up,

"I am curious to know how she reached such a level in only five months of her education?" asked the elder Jedi.

Travien looked at him thoughtfully. He then sighed "I suppose telling you can do no harm. Padmé trusts me implicitly. I have been placing my knowledge in her subconscious mind. Each time we spar, she learns something new, remembers something else she never forgot. She's been learning from me in a way that's never been tried before. I think it works because of Padmé really. I won't say she's incorruptible, because no-one is, but she has a will of steel. She won't fall because of power."

Qui-Gon looked at him piercingly, "Do you want her to fall? Do you wish to turn her to the Dark Side?"

Travien looked at Padmé speculatively and thought for a few moments. He just stared at her blindly,

"No" the answer seemed to shock Qui-Gon, "I don't want to turn her. I don't want to turn her anymore than she wants to turn me. I will find the Sith in this time and I will bend them to my will, but that will ultimately be her will. I will not change who I am, but I will not disappoint her, either."

Just as he finished talking, two people walked through the door. The first was a woman wearing a similar outfit to Padmé and the second was a younger looking main with a small braid over his left ear. Obi-Wan arrived with a scowl on his face. Qui-Gon looked at him in surprise,

"Obi-Wan, what are you doing here, I ordered you to remain on the ship?" asked Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan's scowl deepened as the Handmaiden walked past him and over to Travien, "I was ejected from the ship, master. I was told to escort this handmaiden here with the supplies that his _lordship_ requested."

Qui-Gon turned to Travien to see him applying several medicines to Padmé, "What are you doing Travien?"

The Sith Lord ignored him for a moment before turning round, "Anakin can call me Travien, you cannot. I can co-exist, Jedi. I might even be able to ignore your existence, but we are not on a first name basis. I have done all the reaching out I am going to do."

Qui-Gon nodded stiffly, "Very well, Sith Lord." His tone of voice made it very clear what he thought of the title, "What are you doing with Padmé?" he demanded,

Travien answered him distractedly, "I am treating her. She often over extends herself like this. I soon put together a treatment to make sure she did no permanent damage."

Qui-Gon nodded as he finished the last of the treatment. "What will you do now?"

Travien stood up and looked at him, "Now? There is nothing I can do but wait. Rabé here will keep an eye on Padmé. She is trained to resist Mind Tricks, as are all of the handmaidens who cannot directly use the Force, so your Apprentice may stay."

Obi-Wan interrupted him, "I am a padawan, Sith. I am not some Apprentice!" he spat,

Travien smirked knowingly, "If that's what helps you sleep at night, Jedi." He turned back to Qui-Gon, "You and I are going to visit this Watto character and ensure my entrance into the race."

Qui-Gon looked surprised, "You are willing to leave Padmé incapacitated with a Jedi nearby?"

Travien snorted, "You know as well as I do that if Padmé weren't here you would already be dead. Her dying is possibly the worst thing that can happen to you. Besides, you and I need to talk, away from our students."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Very well. Obi-Wan will remain here with Padmé and Rabé."

Obi-Wan looked to protest but his master silenced him with a look as he and Travien stepped out of the door. They walked down the sandy streets, everything staying clear of the glare on Travien's face. Qui-Gon finally gathered up his courage,

"You wished to speak with me."

Travien nodded slowly, "I have been considering this greatly. I have thought and come to the realization that I cannot be everywhere at once. What I am about to tell you is for you and you alone. If I find out that you have told anyone you will suffer immensely, understand?"

Qui-Gon bristled at the implied threat but nodded. It would do no good to fight Travien on even terms.

Travien accepted the nod, "You may have by now noticed that you never see the handmaidens Padmé and Sabé at the same time." Qui-Gon's eyes widened slightly, "I am sure you understand what I am saying. Contrary to the belief of the Jedi Order, a Sith is capable of love. I love Padmé, but that is not the only reason I am here."

Qui-Gon gulped at the thought of his taking command over the Queen and spoke in hushed tones, "But then why is she here, why not on the ship where she is safe?"

Travien shrugged, "She wanted to see the planet, I give her what she wants. There is nothing more to it. The closer she is to me, the safer she is."

Qui-Gon nodded, "May I ask a question?"

Travien considered the smart reply but nodded silently, "Why do you personally dislike the Jedi?"

Travien thought about it for a second and decided to answer honestly, "Your council is made of people who were chosen by the last council, yes?" Qui-Gon nodded, "So, individually chosen because they share the same attitudes and ideals as the people that already sat there, yes?" Qui-Gon nodded more hesitantly, "By that template your council hasn't changed significantly in four thousand years. It is therefore the same council that wiped my father's mind because he believed something different, the same council that attempted to assassinate my mother because it was easier and more permanent than rescuing her."

Qui-Gon was beginning to see his point when Travien decided to drive it home,

"The first time I ever set foot in the Republic was on Naboo. I had never even seen another Republic world. The Jedi knew nothing about me other than my name. Yet still I was attacked. By that point all I wanted was to raise a family of my own. What reason did the Order have to attack me? You expected me to answer for the crimes of all the Sith who have come before me, therefore I shall hold you responsible for the crimes of the Jedi who comes before you. I shall hold you responsible for the Padawan Massacre of Taris and The Jedi Covenant; I shall hold you responsible for your crimes against my family. I tolerate you because Padmé respects you. She does not see you through my eyes."

Qui-Gon remained silent until Travien spoke up, "Besides, we have larger problems."

The Jedi looked at his acquaintance, "What problems?"

Travien frowned deeply, "A little over an hour ago, another being landed on Tatooine. Not quite as Dark as myself and nowhere near as powerful, but it doesn't have to attack me. Padmé needs all the goodwill she can get with the Republic, meaning you and your padawan must be alive when we reach Coruscant. To be honest this feels more like a Dark Jedi than a Sith."

Qui-Gon looked at him curiously, "What is the difference?"

Travien shrugged, "Sith are taught not to lose themselves to the Dark side. Most fail to prevent that, but they retain important qualities, like patience. Dark Jedi do not. More often than not they are impatient and overly violent. They have little care for the long term consequences of their actions. Their primary emotions are anger and rage. Granted there are exceptions to both rules."

Qui-Gon looked thoughtful, "That was why you wanted Obi-Wan to accompany the handmaiden on her journey and remain with Padmé while she was incapacitated."

Travien nodded, "Partly. I will always trust a warrior with a lightsaber more than one with a blaster. In comparison to a lightsaber, blasters are inaccurate and unreliable. Anyone who can wield a lightsaber will be a better shot with a blaster." Qui-Gon nodded in agreement, "Apart from that, Padmé can deal with your apprentice as easily as I can deal with you. I still don't trust Jedi."

Qui-Gon nodded sadly and they remained quiet for the rest of the journey. Travien smiled and greeted several people in the streets that, to Qui-Gon's surprise, smiled and greeted him back. It wasn't too long before they arrived at Watto's shop. Travien placed a subtle compulsion on the doorway telling people to come back later while he and Qui-Gon went into the store.

Watto looked up and saw the two Force users enter. The Jedi just irritated him, but the other one, the blind one, terrified him. He gulped and got up slowly,

"What do you want this time?" he asked.

Qui-Gon looked at Travien who shook his head, "Oh no, you want to make deals, you make deals. Padmé can't blame me for this; I'm just the humble Sith Lord trying to remain inconspicuous."

Watto nearly fell out of the air at that remark. When you spend all day dealing with spacers who have dozens of stories you hear just about everything. Watto was very familiar with the idea of a Sith Lord. The idea that one would follow a Jedi around was laughable, but the Jedi's next comment put paid to that belief.

Qui-Gon snorted, "After your display earlier, Sith Lord, I sincerely doubt you know the meaning of inconspicuous."

Travien sneered, "This coming from the cross-dressing mystic? Hah!"

Watto's fears were confirmed; only one type of person in the galaxy would dare taunt a Jedi like that, especially as this was no Jedi. He would be very careful here.

Qui-Gon ignored that last statement, "As I said, I wish to make a deal with you."

Watto looked nervous, "What kinda deal?"

Qui-Gon smiled, perhaps bringing Travien along wasn't a bad idea after all, "I obtained a podracer in a game of chance. I wish to enter the podracer into the Boonta Eve race; however I lack the entry fee."

Watto nodded slowly, "Alright, keep going."

"My offer is that you front the entry fee. In return you get the prize money, minus the cost to the parts we need. Everyone gets what they want."

Watto nodded more thoughtfully, "You gotta put up some collateral. I'm not just gonna sponsor you for this." He said forcefully.

Qui-Gon nodded and pulled out a small holographic emitter. He activated it and a picture of the royal cruiser appeared over it, "This will be our collateral." Qui-Gon gulped slightly when he saw Travien's intense glare.

Watto nodded, happy to note that the Sith Lord wasn't focusing on him, "Deal." And stuck out his hand. Qui-Gon was about to reach out and shake when Travien intervened,

"No deal." They both looked at him and he turned to Watto, "You get a clean third of the cut. There is no way that the prize money is that little for an event like this. A custom made Nubian Starship is far more than the entry fee to this race any day. We pay for our own supplies, understand?"

Watto protested, "Come on! That's not fair, you don't need that money! You can't even use it in the Republic!"

Travien growled, "I might want to work on my sun tan. Do you feel that I am being unfair, Toydarian?"

Watto felt a subtle pressure at his throat. It was nowhere near enough to restrict his breathing but enough to remind who he was dealing with. He nodded frantically, "It's a deal!"

He slapped his hand into Qui-Gon's and shook enthusiastically. He felt the pressure around his throat ease off and sighed in relief. Watto looked at them, "Who's your pilot gonna be?"

Travien grinned, "Me," and walked out. He was shortly followed by Qui-Gon who glared at him. Travien removed the compulsion he placed on the door and smiled at the Jedi. He then proceeded to walk off down the street.

Qui-Gon caught up with him and glared, "What the hell was that?!" he growled. Travien smiled at him,

"Anger, Jedi? Perhaps we're not so different after all." Qui-Gon glared at him, "Don't get on your high horse with me, Preacher. You just gambled the personal ship of the head of a Sovereign State of the Republic. That's not only taking part in an illegal race, that also aiding and abetting the actions of an enemy of the Order and could be classed as theft of property. Padmé hasn't been out of my sight around you so she can't have given you permission. All I did was intimidate a shopkeeper. You, however, are in for it."

Qui-Gon followed him with a frown. Technically Travien was right in everything he had said. Qui-Gon knew he was doing what he had to do to help the Queen, but perhaps so was Travien. He had to wonder what the Sith Lord wanted with the money though. It was a troubling thought. What on in the name of the Force could a Sith Lord want with currency from a backwater planet such as this? Travien smiled cheerfully at him

"If you keep frowning like that then it's gonna stick!"

Qui-Gon just sighed. The journey back to the Skywalker's home took much less time than the journey there. Unfortunately for Qui-Gon any time spent alone with Travien was an eternity. He knew that the young man had justifications for his actions and beliefs but that did not make his life any easier. They arrived back at the hut to see Padmé sitting outside with Rabé. Travien grinned and was happy to see that she had already recovered.

Padmé stood up and walked out to meet him. She stopped right in front of him and smiled slightly, "I'm never going to beat you, am I?"

Travien shrugged, "Do you need to?"

Padmé laughed and hugged him, "So, what happened, are you in the race?"

Travien turned to Qui-Gon and smiled, "Check on your apprentice, I'm going to indulge in one of my favourite hobbies." Qui-Gon frowned and left, Travien turned back to Padmé and led her back to her seat,

"Hi, Rabé. Thanks for coming out here."

She nodded, "Your welcome, My Lord."

Travien frowned, "Okay, what's with the 'My Lord' stuff? You lot never used to call me that."

Padmé was curious too. Normally she was the only person that they showed that kind of deference to. Rabé grinned,

"After you and Padmé left, the handmaidens all got together. That whole 'trust my judgment' thing was really irritating so we decided to remind the Jedi that you two actually hold authority. One of you is Queen and the other is Naboo aristocracy."

Travien sat back, "I'm really aristocracy?"

Padmé nodded, "Technically you didn't exist in the Republic so I had you registered as a citizen of Naboo. After you showed me the Star Forge I decided that you definitely held dominion over enough territory to be a landed noble and gave you the title of Baron. That way the Handmaidens and I can refer to you as Lord Shan without attracting too much attention. I didn't figure it was all that important."

Travien nodded and bowed slightly in his seat, "What's mine is yours, my Queen." He stated formally.

Padmé smiled at that but schooled her features, "Now, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Travien nodded, "In a nasty situation I didn't want our Jedi friend getting confused, so I unfortunately had to let him in on our little deception. He knows not to tell anyone. I'll be peeking in on his apprentice later to check. I know I can't be everywhere, so I did what I had to do."

Padmé nodded her head, "That's alright. I was wondering whether to tell them. Naboo traditionally holds the Jedi in high regard."

Travien nodded, "There's more and it gets worse as we go." Padmé raised her eyebrows, "I'll be dispatching Kenobi back to the ship soon. A little over an hour ago I sensed another arrival on Tatooine. My counterpart has decided to do something stupid. The being that landed here was undoubtedly a Sith. He is an apprentice at most, but still more powerful than Sabé or Eirtaé alone. Together they're okay. I wanted Kenobi here while you were incapacitated."

Padmé nodded, "Please tell me there's nothing else." She pleaded,

Travien grinned, "I'd love to. But I can't. Qui-Gon got me into the race. Unfortunately Watto required some form of collateral before he was willing to front the entry fee per the terms of our deal."

Padmé sighed, "What collateral and what was the deal?"

Travien smirked, "Qui-Gon wanted to give him the prize money minus the cost of the parts we need. I assume he was then going to buy the parts. That would have been fine if Anakin was flying as he is technically Watto's property as much as I despise that fact, but he's not. I am. I put my foot down and said that Watto gets one third of the money and we buy our own parts."

Padmé shook her head, "Shmi's told me about dealers on Tatooine there was no way he went for that!" she stated firmly,

Travien shrugged, "He must have heard Qui-Gon calling me a Sith Lord. It might have been because I was about to strangle him, who knows, but he accepted."

Padmé just looked at him incredulously, "You were about to strangle him?!"

Travien shrugged defensively, "I was using the Force so no-one would have known. I didn't actually do anything. I just applied enough pressure for him to feel it, no damage was done."

Padmé huffed, "Alright, fine. So long as he wasn't hurt…badly. What was the collateral?" Travien smiled at her.

"Our ship." He said flatly,

Padmé shook her head, "Tell me you're joking. Please tell me you're joking." She pleaded. Travien shook his head. "I am going to kill that Jedi." She growled. Padmé took a moment to collect herself before talking to Travien again,

"So what are you planning on doing now?"

Travien shrugged, "I'll send the ickle Jedi back to the ship and get to work with Anakin. The race is tomorrow and I need to learn the controls on that damn podracer."

Padmé nodded and they went back into the house. They met the others, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Shmi, who were all talking. They walked in smiling and Travien looked at Qui-Gon, from behind Padmé, who returned the look curiously and Travien mouthed 'Busted' at him. Qui-Gon slumped in his seat, Obi-Wan looked at him curiously and then to a grinning Travien. He scowled,

"What do you want, Sith Lord?"

Travien shook his head, "You're not that smart are you Jedi? My father would have killed you for mouthing off like you have been." Obi-Wan paled, "As it happens I want a lot of things. None of which I can have right now." Travien turned his attention to Rabé, "Are you heading back to the ship now?" Rabé nodded, "Yes, I think that would be for the best."

Travien nodded, "If you're sure. Well, I'm not entirely happy with you travelling alone, so Obi-Wan will accompany you."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I will do anything you tell me Sith Lord?"

Travien shrugged, "Because you're not suicidal or stupid. I'm tense right now, you are a Jedi. Do you, as a Jedi, want to be around a tense Sith Lord?"

Obi-Wan huffed and walked Rabé out of the house and back to the ship.

Travien sighed, "Well, it seems I don't get to try turning Obi-Wan today so I'll settle for asking Anakin if he'd be willing to teach me how to use his podracer."

Anakin nodded warily and led him and Padmé out to the back of the house. He looked up at the pair,

"Travien, sir. Why don't you like Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan?"

Travien sighed. How does one explain this to a child? He gave it a try, "Historically the Jedi and Sith have always been hostile to each other. With me it goes a little deeper than that. The Jedi have attacked me in the past, even though I have done nothing wrong."

Anakin frowned, "Why would they do that? Jedi are good guys, aren't they?"

He really didn't want to disillusion the kid, "The Jedi uphold the law. From their perspective, they are the good guys. My parents felt that the system in place didn't work and waged a war to try and make the galaxy into what they believed was a better place. Have you heard the phrase that history was written by the victors?" Anakin nodded, "Well, my parents lost the war. The Jedi won, and now their enemies, the Sith, are the bad guys. They attacked me because of who my parents were. That's why I don't like Jedi."

Anakin looked at the ground, "I don't think I could train like you and Padmé. I was thinking that maybe I'd be a Jedi, if I could. Does that mean that you won't like me?"

Travien sighed and looked at Anakin. He waited for a few moments, "I don't normally do this. My girlfriend has been corrupting me again, but I'll make an exception for you, okay?"

Anakin smiled, "Thanks. C'mon you gotta see my podracer."

An enthusiastic Anakin ran ahead of them, keeping them in sight all the time. Padmé turned to her boyfriend,

"Why were you so gentle? It doesn't make sense."

Travien shrugged, "He's almost made the decision to join the Jedi. Anything else I do will make it look like I hate his childhood heroes. He doesn't think he can handle our training for now. Knowing the Jedi Council they're going to do something fantastically stupid to drive him away at some point. I'll stay his friend, and when they drive him away, he'll come to me. His friendship with me won't win him any trust in the Order anyway."

Padmé shook her head, "I've said it before, I'll say it again, you are manipulative."

Travien smiled at her, "Thank you my love. I feel better every time you say that." Padmé just laughed and they followed Anakin to another area where the podracer sat. Travien walked around it and nodded appreciatively. He hummed occasionally,

Anakin looked nervous, "What do you think, Travien?" he asked innocently,

Travien nodded for a second, "I think this is one of the best designs I've ever seen." He looked around at the assembled kids, "Do any of you know where I might be able to get some lightweight metal panelling?"

They all shook their heads as Anakin looked at him, "Why would you need that?"

Travien smiled, "Not everyone plays nice, Anakin. It's better to have the internal workings completely covered so that no-one can tamper with it. Other than that, it's got to be the best podracer I've ever seen." Anakin beamed at the praise. Travien nodded and walked up to the seat and looked at the controls, he turned to Anakin and gestured to the cockpit,

"Mind if I have a seat?"

Anakin shook his head and Travien jumped in. He looked around the dashboard. Most of the controls and readouts were fairly obvious. He looked for some form of joystick and then noticed the handlebars beside him. He sat back mutely for a second before grabbing onto them and checking the manoeuvrability. He heard Anakin's friends laughing at his expense and jumped out of the podracer.

He walked over to the group of kids and knelt in front of Anakin, his black armour making him an intimidating figure to them,

"Anakin, do you have any schematics for that racer?"

Anakin nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Travien smiled, "That is the best interface system I have ever seen. It has far more control than I've seen on most starfighters. As I used to design them I know what I'm talking about. Do you think I could get a look at the schematics at some point?"

Anakin nodded, dumbfounded that this man actually wanted his designs. The other children stopped laughing and looked at the strange man. A Rodian child stepped forward,

"You can't be thinking of flying that thing, can you?"

He looked at the Rodian child with the same stare as he gave to Kenobi, "Young man, even a blind man could tell that that is a bloody good podracer, I should know, I am one. Yes, I will be flying it in the Boonta Eve Classic tomorrow. Do you have anything constructive to say?"

The Rodian backed off. Travien returned his blind gaze to Anakin, "Well, I have a power pack for it; all we need to do now is make sure it flies. I think you should be the one to do that."

Anakin looked up, "Me, Travien sir?"

Travien smiled, "Yes Anakin. Its a little tradition of mine, I hope you don't mind. When I design or build a ship or racer, I'm the first one to fly or test it. That way it's mine, no-one else had anything to do with it. You don't share the credit with anyone." Anakin nodded and they headed over the pod. Anakin sat in the pod with Travien's help and Travien handed him the power pack. Anakin placed it in the slot and started the ignition. Anakin's voice came over the roar of the engine,

"It's working! It's working!" he screamed. Travien smiled and clapped his hands. He was genuinely happy for the kid. Anakin shut it down and smiled at Travien,

"That's it Anakin, that podracer is yours, you did it all on your own. You designed it, you built it, and you flew it. If I win the Boonta Eve race tomorrow I'll have won it in Anakin Skywalker's podracer."

Anakin's grin threatened to cut his face in half. Travien helped him get out of the pod and looked him over. He saw a small cut on the boy's hand. He'd get the Jedi to see to it later, knowing exactly what would happen. Anakin began telling him all about the Boonta Eve Classic and how things were done, from the flag parade to the prize money. They stayed out there until it was nearly sunset and Travien looked up.

Travien turned to Anakin, "Alright, kiddo, we've made good progress out here and there's nothing else we can really do. You head into the house and see Qui-Gon about that cut. I need to talk to Padmé for a second." Anakin nodded and ran off. Travien got up and turned to Padmé, who had been watching them work,

She smiled, "What do you need, Travien?"

Travien smiled at her, "Do you have any spare fabric onboard your ship, love?"

Padmé nodded slowly, "Yes. Mostly red and black because it doesn't normally fit into royal regalia, why?"

Travien smirked, "Anakin told me about the flag parade, I figured I should have my own. I'm certain the handmaidens are bored with nothing to do." Padmé laughed for a second and nodded,

"Go on, steal Qui-Gon's communicator again, and tell them I authorized it."

He kissed her on the lips quickly, "You're the best, love."

He ran into the house and met Shmi, "Hello, Ms. Skywalker." He smiled happily, "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find the chief meddler, would you?"

Shmi chuckled at him, "The Jedi is upstairs and outside, and he's just finished treating Anakin for his cut. Why?"

Travien smiled sheepishly, "He's the only one of us that thought to bring a communicator, I need to borrow it again." Shmi just laughed and shook her head,

Travien ran upstairs and found Qui-Gon standing on the balcony, if it could be called that. He walked out and stood beside him,

"So, what's his midi-chlorian count?"

Qui-Gon looked at him in feigned surprise, "I don't know what you're talking about." He said,

Travien snorted, "Come on. I sent the kid to you. I know you checked his blood. I just want to know, professional curiosity."

Qui-Gon stared at him, "Do you seek to turn him into a Sith or a neutral?"

Travien shook his head, "Neither, kid's made his choice. He wants to be a Jedi. I can't do anything about that. If your council screws up then I'll be there for him, but beyond that there's nothing I can do."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Obi-Wan had to re-calibrate the sensors. His count is twenty three thousand. What about yours, will you tell me?"

Travien shrugged, "There's nothing you can do about it I suppose. Why not, my count is twenty seven thousand. Remember though I am the child of two of the most powerful Sith in history." Qui-Gon nodded dumbly, "Anyway, that's not why I came up here. I came to borrow your communicator again. I need to talk to the handmaidens." Qui-Gon handed the communicator over to Travien and went downstairs.

He activated the comlink and the voice came over instantly, "Master?"

Travien snorted, "You wish Jedi. I need to speak to the handmaidens."

Obi-Wan growled at him, "Which one?"

Travien shrugged, whether Obi-Wan could see him or not, "I don't care, I like all of them. They can all handle what I need them to do."

Obi-Wan just sighed, "Wait a moment."

There was a brief silence, "Lord Shan?"

Travien smiled, "Rabé?"

"Yes milord."

"Fantastic. I need a favour. Padmé gave me permission to raid the cloth storage. I need you to make a flag for me." He spent a few minutes outlining the design of the flag. When he was done he carried on talking, "Will you lot be able to get that done for tomorrow?"

Rabé sounded like she was smiling, "This is to get at the Jedi again, isn't it?"

Travien smiled, "You know me well. This was my parent's banner as well as my own. Can you do it?"

Rabé replied after a moment, "Yes. I'll get the others to help me and deliver it with Eirtaé tomorrow morning. Will that be okay?"

Travien grinned, "You, Rabé, are a lifesaver." He closed the connection and walked back downstairs. He saw the others all gathered around the table and smiled at the group. He walked around and handed the communicator back to Qui-Gon before sitting beside Padmé.

Padmé shook her head, "I know that grin. What have you done?"

Travien looked hurt, "Padmé, how could you assume I've done anything?"

Padmé just chuckled, "Because I know you far too well. You're winding someone up. It's probably Obi-Wan."

Travien shrugged, "Can I help it if he's an easy target? Besides, winding him up is only a happy side effect. The Handmaidens are going to be able to finish my flag by tomorrow morning for the flag parade."

Anakin looked at him, "What's it gonna be?"

Travien smiled mysteriously, "That's a secret, Anakin. It's an old symbol though. The colouring is a bit off, but better I think."

Padmé looked at him, "What's the traditional colouring?"

Travien smirked, "Blue and white."

Padmé frowned for a second and then her eyes lit up in realisation, "Is it that symbol we saw at…uh…your place? When you took me along for the inspection?" Travien nodded and Padmé grinned, "Oh, that's going to irritate a few people. Are you sure it's wise to use it. That would basically announce your presence."

Travien shrugged, "My enemies already know that I'm here. Now I need my potential allies to know. The Hutts will likely know it and start spreading the word. The Trade Federation will quickly run out of support when their allies find out about my allegiance to Naboo."

Shmi looked at him thoughtfully, "Why does everything you do seem to have an agenda?" she asked slowly,

Travien looked at her for minute in silence. Qui-Gon began to get very nervous until Travien spoke again, "I can see how it would appear that way. Most of what I do has an agenda, I will admit. I intend to rebuild my old alliances, get back some of the loyalties I once held. I'd like to rebuild my Empire, but I can't do that until Padmé here tires of democracy. For the most part I need to bring the current Sith to heel."

Shmi looked confused, "What do you mean 'the current Sith'?"

Travien levelled a measuring stare in her direction, a particularly worrying expression from a blind Sith, "I am not from this time. I placed myself in 'exile' many centuries ago. Back then I was the Lord of the Sith. I ruled an Empire that existed outside of the Republic. It was destroyed by a civil war, but I survived. The only way for another Sith to claim the title undisputedly is to kill me. As they haven't done that then I am still their Lord, but these Sith are different. They are weak."

"How so?" asked Shmi,

"My computers and satellites have recorded the actions of some of the Sith for the time after I left the galactic scene and many of them carried on the traditions that me and my father started. They were leaders and generals. When they fought, they fought at the front. This Sith does not. He manipulates and hides. He refuses to attach his name to his actions. I know when not to fight, I know when a battle is lost but I have never run away or hidden for the sake of hiding. I despise cowards, especially Sith cowards. Before the civil war there were as many Sith as there are Jedi, he survives now because he is the only Sith around. There are no others to challenge him." Travien looked around the table at his rapt listeners and decided that he had said enough,

Travien sighed, "There is a great deal about the Sith that few know. The Sith of this time appear to have lost a great deal of what makes them Sith. If you will excuse me, I need to rest for tomorrow."

Travien got up from the table and walked to his bed. The others watched him leave and Shmi turned to Padmé,

"What is he?" she asked,

Padmé sighed, "I'm well aware that Travien is capable of being a monster. All Sith are. The important thing about him is that he isn't a monster. I'm sure he'll let it out when he needs to, but he doesn't let it rule him. I love him, monster included, and I believe he genuinely loves me. He didn't have to become my bodyguard, or stay on Naboo. He certainly didn't have to teach me how to use the Force."

Shmi looked pensive, "What does he intend to do? I've heard of the Sith, albeit only in stories. He doesn't seem to act anything like the Sith Lords I have heard about."

Padmé took a deep breath. She refused to speak of what little she knew of his plans, "Travien is keeping me in the dark as much as he is you. I know a little of what he intends but not how he plans to get there. He doesn't view you as a threat which means he'll help you if it's within his power. Beyond that I won't say anything."

Qui-Gon looked at her piercingly, "You said earlier that you had seen his 'place'." Padmé nodded slowly, "Yes, I have, why?"

Qui-Gon's stare became stern, "I think perhaps I should warn you of the dangers of the Star Forge."

Shmi gasped and Padmé levelled a sharp glare at him, "You should be more careful with what you say, master Jedi. I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the Forge, although Travien has told me what he remembers of it. His current holdings were deemed acceptable to allow him entry into the peerage, that's all I will say." She turned to Shmi an Anakin, "I thank you for both the meal and your continued hospitality." She got up from the table and left the room to find Travien lying on his back staring at the ceiling.

Padmé looked at him in concern, "Are you okay?"

Travien continued staring at the ceiling, "Not really. I'm not nervous about the race, its other things. I'm worried that you'll get hurt if the council tries to attack me. I know that the Jedi will tell their masters everything as soon as they have the full back up of their masters. I don't know if the Jedi are stronger or weaker than they were. The other Sith worries me. He's a trained manipulator, I can see that. I may have to act to keep the Republic together, but I don't want to. A part of me wants to conquer, to take it and re-forge it into your image of paradise." He looked at Padmé, "I'm afraid that despite everything I am going to end up in a fight. At that point you are going to see the ugly truth of the Dark Side and leave me. I don't know if it will be the Jedi, or the Sith, or the Nemoidians. I don't want to lose you. Either I fight, and you leave me, or I don't fight and you may die. I seem to be screwed either way."

Padmé sat next to him, "I feel the Dark Side every time you wake up, just before you shield your aura. I know you do that to protect me. I know you are Sith and that doesn't just mean you believe something. I understand that there is a monster within you. I honestly don't know how I'll react to that. I know that I will be more prepared for it when it happens than I was for finding out that there was a Sith Lord in my office. I will try, that's all I can promise." Travien nodded. Padmé lay down beside him and manoeuvred herself under the covers with him. They slipped into an uneasy sleep soon afterwards.


	9. Chapter 9

Travien awoke the next morning to the now familiar feeling of Padmé half on top of him. He smiled ruefully and embraced this feeling while he had the chance. He knew that it would likely not last long. She would see his true self, that which he didn't display on Naboo or in front or her. He sighed slightly as he thought of that. He used the Force to make sure Padmé didn't get jostled as he slid out of his bed, which was admittedly a thick blanket on the floor, but he was grateful for it.

He gently put Padmé down and listened as she shuffled slightly trying to get comfortable. Travien had been trying to suppress his darker instincts and knew that he was failing. It wasn't that he was addicted to the Dark Side, because he knew that he wasn't. It was his blindness. It was a constant reminder that the Jedi had driven his parents away, had forced them to turn to the Dark Side. That in order to have any kind of life they had to sacrifice everything thy ever believed in. It was enough to drive him into a rage.

He stepped over to the corner of the room and bent down to pick up his armour. The black armour and plates had been his companion for many years, despite being periodically expanded when he grew. For the first time since landing on Tatooine he not only put on his armour, but his helmet as well. He wasn't sure if Force sensitive were allowed in the race but he didn't much care. He stepped out of the room and found that everyone else was awake although he couldn't see Qui-Gon, including Eirtaé and Rabé who were waiting for him.

Travien smiled under his mask, "Ladies, I'm glad to see you, metaphorically speaking of course." They smiled at his self deprecating joke.

Eirtaé smiled at him, "It's good to see you too, My Lord."

Travien flinched, "Just Travien for now girls. Baron Shan if you must."

They looked at each other, puzzled, "Alright, Travien. We finished the banner for you, shall we show you?" They moved to unfurl it when Travien raised a hand,

"That's okay, I trust your work, girls. I need to get Padmé up and get the pod to the garage. I'll go and wake Padmé up now." He left the room and headed back to where Padmé was sleeping. He crouched down beside her after entering the room and removing his mask. He lightly kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear,

"Padmé, it's time to wake up, love." He said gently,

Padmé rolled over and looked up at him, she frowned slightly, "Why are you already dressed? Are you okay?"

Travien nodded with a slight smile, "I have a lot on my mind. Come on, we have a lot to do today." Padmé nodded, slightly worried for him. She got up and dressed fairly quickly, Travien having turned around so that he didn't feel like a pervert. They soon went out into the kitchen where everyone else was and sat down. Travien looked around. Everyone seemed grim or nervous. He breathed deeply,

"Okay, let's get this all moving so that we don't miss the race, okay?"

They all nodded except for Padmé, "Wait, who's going to be the flag bearer?"

Eirtaé spoke up, "The handmaidens thought it should be me. I'll draw the least attention of all of us and I'm one of Travien's students." Padmé nodded slowly, but spoke up, "No, Eirtaé, I'll bear the flag. You stay close to me on case there is trouble, but the flag is mine." The handmaiden nodded nervously.

As they left the house Eirtaé sidled up to Padmé, "Milady, what's wrong with Lord Shan?"

Padmé sighed, "He's losing the battle with his instincts. You know as well as I do that he is suppressing his more violent instincts for me, so that I don't leave him or anything else, right?" Eirtaé nodded,

"Well unfortunately there is a fight coming. There's another Sith on Tatooine and he's certain that he's going to have to fight it, soon enough. He's afraid that he'll lose control of some of his darker instincts and drive me away."

Eirtaé nodded more slowly this time, "What do you plan to do?"

Padmé shrugged, "What can I do? I know he won't hurt me, I know he won't harm Naboo. I love him, all of him. When the time comes I will have to show him that. I wish I were a little older but I will have to be patient."

Eirtaé nodded sadly, "How long do you think this fight will take?"

Padmé thought for a moment, "Oh, when the race ends, I'd say." She looked around for a moment, "Hey, does anyone know where Qui-Gon is?"

Shmi turned around, "He went on ahead, said something about talking to Watto."

Travien groaned, "Oh, gods. I knew I should have locked him in the bloody house."

Padmé looked at him, "Surely it's not that bad?"

Travien looked at her flatly, "My love, I now knows why the Jedi Order has very little money. The reason is that Qui-Gon Gin has the negotiating ability of a three year old. He doesn't haggle, he just gives." Travien shook his head and carried on. Padmé looked at the others and shrugged. It took some time but they finally reached the garage. Upon entering they were confronted by Watto, who turned to Anakin,

"You might want to stop your friend from making bets, or I'm going to end up owning him, too." Both Anakin and Travien looked confused by that statement and had an opportunity to ask when Qui-Gon arrived a moment later.

Anakin looked to the older Jedi, "What did he mean by that?"

"Never you mind. Let's just get ready for the race, alright?" he said whilst helping Anakin down from the animal he was riding on. Travien jumped down, as did Padmé and Eirtaé. They took a look around briefly before speaking to Qui-Gon,

"Why do I get the feeling that you've been making more deals?" asked Travien,

Qui-Gon shrugged, "I have no idea. You do what you need to do and I shall do what I need to do."

Travien shrugged, it wasn't really important to him what the Jedi did. He just wanted to keep track of the movements of people around Padmé. He followed the pod out onto the track and decided to wait with it. He sat in the pod and entered into a form of meditation that allowed him to keep and eye on the world around him and control his emotions at the same time. He watched as the nasty looking dug, Sebulba, tried to sabotage the pod's engine but every time he reached for it, Travien pushed him away. It was his brief moment of fun. Eventually the Dug got bored and Travien decided to listen to the announcements.

"Well this is news to us, Lades and Gentlemen. We have a new racer on the track. Will this newcomer be able to hold up with the pros?"

Travien watched as the flag parade began and sat up in his chair as he saw Padmé of all people bearing his flag. He had no idea that they had switched. The flag itself consisted of a small red circle in the centre. The circle was flanked on either side by two large half kite shapes with a dividing line at the midsection. This image was surrounded by a red circular band. The rest of the flag was pure black.

Jabba the Hutt's eyes widened. That symbol was pure legend among the Hutts. The owners of that symbol were long dead. Whoever was using it would either be interesting or had to die. Some things were just not worth stirring up. He sent a few of his men to bring the racer to him after the race.

Travien sat in his racer and smiled. It had helped him a great deal to see Padmé carrying that flag. Maybe there was hope after all. She knew what that symbol meant anyway. The flag parade was soon over and the race was about to begin. Travien extended his senses as far as he could and began looking slightly into the future. He was dismayed to see that his podracer would falter on the starting line. He was even more dismayed just after the starting sound when his podracer actually faltered.

Travien worked quickly and restarted the racer with little problem. He took off and for the first time he understood why so many people loved podracing. He revelled in the speed he was going. He was also wary; the images of the future were overlaid on the images of the present, which made things difficult to tell apart. It was like a shadow of a turn would flow seamlessly into the turn itself whilst becoming another image at the same time.

The ride was thrilling in itself. The crowd gasped as he swerved his racer to dodge a bullet fire by a camping Tusken. They were confused as to how he knew the shot was coming. Travien ignored everything else and focused on the track. His face twisted in concentration as he fought to separate the present and the near future. He swerved around another racer who was going too slow and noticed that the line was coming up. That meant he had already completed a lap. Travien frowned, he was too far behind. He suddenly snorted, _I'm a Sith Lord, why the hell am I playing fair?_ He began using the Force to create a funnel in front of the podracer, effectively giving him his own slipstream. Travien grinned as the pod sped up.

On the sidelines Padmé frowned. Qui-Gon looked around and spoke quietly, "Is there a problem, your highness?"

Padmé nodded distractedly, "Travien's cheating. Not only is he seeing what happens before it happens he's used the Force to speed up the racer. Why on earth would he feel the need to do that?"

Qui-Gon shrugged, "It is hardly the nature of the Sith to accede to the rules of a sport."

Padmé glared, "Nature or not, Travien would hardly feel the need to be so blunt in normal circumstances."

Qui-Gon stared at her, "If I may ask, milady. How is it that you are so at ease with him being a Sith? They are extremely dangerous."

Padmé sighed, "I checked his history. While Revan and Bastila Shan did have history in the Republic, Travien doesn't. Given his knowledge of certain artefacts from the time period I believe him to be telling the truth. The fact that he has willingly taught myself and two others to use the Force without converting us to the Sith ways lends credence to the belief that he is no threat to Naboo."

Qui-Gon huffed, "He may be no threat to Naboo, your highness, but what of the rest of the galaxy?"

Padmé smirked, "The only people Travien has a problem with are the Jedi and the current Sith. If your lot don't provoke him into doing something rash then you'll be fine."

Travien was already in the beginning stretch of the third lap and increased the speed of the podracer slightly. Anakin had briefly warned him not to push it to hard but he had no choice. He could see Sebulba up ahead and he knew that the Dug was leading the field. He darted through the remaining racers and quickly caught up with the irritating creature and his hulking excuse for a racer.

They threw the racers about, Sebulba trying to ram Travien off of the track and Travien avoiding him. Travien was almost in the lead until they came to the canyon section and he was forced onto a service ramp. He snarled briefly but maintained the cone of energy in front of him. He briefly thought about his options,

_There's no way I can let him win. I wonder what happens if no-one crosses the finish line._ He shook his head; _Padmé would get upset about that. Oh well, I suppose there is that option. Maybe I should land on his head?_

Travien accelerated up the ramp and performed a quick control thrust. Unfortunately Anakin hadn't built in a control system for the repulsorlift. He glided the racer down the other side of the ramp, which incidentally was cliff face, and landed back on the track. He came as close as he could to landing on Sebulba's head but he had more important things to worry about.

Travien smiled, he was on the last stretch and about to win. His happiness was dashed when Sebulba came right up beside him. The angry Dug rammed into the side of his racer and accidentally hooked the two together. They both struggled for a few moments when Travien remembered what Sebulba had done earlier in throwing something into another racer's engines. Travien smirked at the Dug and waved. Sebulba looked confused and Travien aimed a concentrated Force push at the engines of the oversized podracer.

He chuckled as Sebulba's craft was violently ripped away from his own and slammed down the throttle. He passed through the finish line and brought his racer around sharply. He drew to a stop at the edge of the track and got out to see everyone waiting for him. He saw Padmé looking at him curiously, no doubt wondering about his use of the Force. He walked up to them slowly and Padmé grinned and ran up to him, hugging him,

"You did it! Oh thank you, you did it, you won!" she said happily, whilst wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.

The others walked up to him, Qui-Gon frowned, "I cannot say I approve of your use of the Force to win this race."

Travien shrugged. He couldn't get rid of the grin on his face. Padmé had seen him cheat and she didn't care, despite the potentially lethal nature of his attack,

"I cannot honestly say I care. What I am interested in is that we can get sorted and go home."

As he was saying this, several heavily armed Gamorreans accompanying a green Twi-lek. The Twi-lek walked up to the group of celebrating people.

"Greetings racer, Jabba has requested an audience with you." He said.

Travien knew this could be good or bad and turned to the others, "Our group, or just myself?"

The spokesman thought for a moment, "You and your flag bearer. There are questions that need to be answered."

Travien nodded and turned to Qui-Gon, "Do not approach Watto until I am with you, I have business of my own with the dealer, understood?"

Qui-Gon bristled, "I hardly take orders from you."

Padmé glared at the man, there was more going on here than his Jedi pride, "No, but you will take them from me. Stay away from the dealer until we return." Qui-Gon bowed stiffly as Padmé and Travien were led away by the unknown Twi-lek.

Padmé turned to Travien, "Why did we just order Qui-Gon to stay away from Watto?"

Travien smiled lightly, "I had a look through Watto's mind when we saw him earlier. Our Jedi friend gambled Anakin's freedom against the podracer. If I had lost the match then we would also lose the racer. As I won, Anakin goes free."

Padmé frowned, "But what about Shmi? Does she go free as well?"

Travien shook his head, "No she doesn't. The Jedi tried but he was unsuccessful in attaining her freedom. I anticipated this. She was not his primary objective here. I suspected that he would make an honest effort but not put himself out that much."

Padmé sighed, "So what business do you have with Watto?"

Travien smirked, "Well, Watto was right about one thing. I have no use for the prize money in the Republic, and I sure as hell have no intention of _ever_ coming back to Tatooine."

Padmé looked thoughtful for a second and then her head snapped up, "You're going to buy her freedom, aren't you?"

Travien nodded, "I'm taking the long view."

Padmé chuckled. They continued on in silence as the twi-lek led them though the dank but fairly well lit passage ways of the main building. They were soon led into a large room with a Hutt, who appeared to be holding court. There was another Hutt in the room who looked less than pleased. He walked up to the one in the centre as it was probably the most important,

"I assume it was you who wanted to speak with us." He stated calmly,

Jabba nodded, "You are a talented racer. Yet you play a dangerous game, a game I doubt you know you are playing." Travien raised an eyebrow at the Hutt's monologue, "That banner you display is old. It also has the power to destabilize everything that I have built here. I demand an explanation."

Travien became angry, how dare this Hutt criticize him for flying his parent's banner.

"I hardly need to explain myself to _you_, Hutt." Jabba growled and waved a hand. Several guards broke away from the walls and approached them. One of them laid a hand on Padmé's shoulder. Travien snarled and picked up all of the guards by their throats and slammed them against the walls, holding them there as they struggled for air. He turned his attention back to the Hutt in front of him,

"That was a foolish mistake, weakling." Several sickening cracks were heard around the room and Padmé looked to see the guards heads lolling and realised that Travien had just broken their necks with a mere thought. She wondered how often he had had to hold back during training. What was almost terrifying was that he had not yet released his hold on his aura and his concentration was divided at least a dozen ways. Their last sparring match was entirely for her benefit, she could never have won.

"Your guards should have kept their hands to themselves. Now, what is your name, Hutt?"

Jabba cringed back as Travien let the dead guards fall to the ground. Travien grew impatient when the Hutt didn't answer him and picked him up with the Force. He threw the Hutt against the wall,

"YOUR NAME!!" he roared,

"Jabba, my name is Jabba Desilijic Tiure."

Travien released him and the overgrown slug fell to the ground with a thump, "Remember this Jabba Desilijic Tiure, a Sith Lord does not answer to the likes of you. My name is Darth Shan and the banner I flew at the race was the banner of my parents, Revan and Bastila. Inform those who occupy your circles that the Lord of the Star Forge has returned."

Jabba bowed for a moment, making himself look like some obscene weeble, "Is there anything else you require of me, my lord?"

Travien smirked at his sudden subservience and thought for a moment, "Yes, there is, Jabba. I have declared the world of Naboo to be under my protection, as well as that of the Republic. The Trade Federation has made a foolish mistake in attacking that world as the families of all three of my apprentices live there. I suggest you advise your business associates to draw away from them immediately."

Jabba's eyes widened, "Three apprentices?! I thought a Sith only took one apprentice."

Travien snorted, "The pretender Sith would no doubt do just that. My exile seems to have taken its toll on my people. They will be brought to heel soon enough. Cross me again Hutt and you will not be so fortunate as to die." The Hutt nodded. Travien frowned for a moment and looked at Padmé. He did something he hadn't done before and reached out with his mind,

'_Padmé, can you hear me? Think the words of your answer.'_

Padmé nodded, shocked, _'Yes Travien I can hear you. What do you need?'_

'_I think that revealing your name and status to this Hutt would be advantageous to us, not only now but later.'_

Padmé looked at him intensely, _'I thought you were training me as a neutral. Now you call me your apprentice.'_

Travien sighed, _'In the archaic term you are. Think of it along the lines of apprentice carpenter or blacksmith. You are a student learning from a Master of an Art or Skill. Let others draw the conclusions that will most aid us.'_

Padmé nodded and Travien turned back to Jabba, "In fact I will even give you a distinct honour. I would like you to meet the most powerful of my apprentices." Padmé stepped forward, "I present Queen Amidala of the Naboo." Jabba's eyes opened hysterically wide as he weeble bowed again, this time to Padmé.

Padmé could hear Travien's voice in the back of her head, _'Incline your head slowly and slightly. Acknowledge his deference but remember that he is beneath you.'_

Padmé inclined her head slightly as Travien instructed her and raised it again. As she did so Jabba rolled up from his bow,

"It is an honour to meet you, milady." He intoned,

Padmé repeated the words that Travien spoke into the back of her mind, "Yes, it is. I know that Lord Travien sees something in you, I pray this will not be the folly I believe it to be."

Jabba nodded frantically but was cut off by Travien, "I assume you have the prize money for my winning the race?" Jabba moved to the other side of the room and picked up a large chest like object. It turned out to be a chest. Jabba opened it and was about to start talking when the lid shut and the trunk floated over to Travien. "Good." He looked at the Hutt critically, "There may come a time, soon or in the coming years, when I require the loyalties that were given to me at the height of my Empire. I have no issue with rewarding these loyalties, but if you choose to estrange yourself from the past then make yourself clear quickly, I do not take kindly to betrayal. Now, I have business elsewhere today and I require my apprentice to accompany me. I am sure you have duties of your own." With that Travien turned suddenly and walked out of the room with the chest floating beside him and Padmé close on his heels. She marched up beside him,

"What the hell was all that?!" she demanded.

Travien sighed, "Padmé, I have tried to explain this to you before, maybe now you'll understand. Do you remember the fear you felt when you first realised that I was Sith?"

Padmé nodded slowly, "Yes, but that was before…"

Travien cut her off, "No, there is no before. That fear was what I used to rule the lives of over twenty billion sentients with an iron fist. Do you know what I killed back there? I killed thugs. The galaxy is already a better place for it, but because I killed them Jabba now knows that I am capable of it. As my apprentice he believes it of you, as well. We are now safe from whatever schemes or criminal activities he may take part in, and so are your ship and our friends. Nothing we say will be taken as an empty threat."

Padmé looked at him in some shock as Travien continued, "Fear is the primary weapon of a Sith. It isn't a weapon to be wielded with large armies or huge ships. It is the knife you slip into your enemies' backs and if you're going to start slipping knives into peoples backs then you have to lose a few things first. Morality and Ethics are a great place to start. I hold myself in check because I love you; I maintained the secrecy of my identity because I didn't want it to reflect badly upon you. When the time came and the Trade Federation attacked I was powerless to prevent any of it. Even now I can feel the deaths through the Force. Politics is your weapon, Padmé. Words are your weapons, mine are fear and death. These Hutts speak in the languages of power, languages that were written by the Rakata and the Ancient Sith many thousands of years before even I was born, understand?"

She nodded weakly and Travien sighed, "I will understand if you no longer wish to learn from me. I am the antithesis of everything you believe. I will remain on Coruscant when you return to Naboo."

Travien turned away and let his shoulders sag ever so slightly when Padmé processed what he had said; _He thinks I want him to leave. Remain on Coruscant? But that would leave him…oh gods that would leave him at the mercy of the Jedi! No!'_

Padmé ran up to him and hauled on his shoulder, dragging him round. Before Travien could react in any way she almost jumped forward and kissed him hard. Travien was almost too caught up in surprise to return the kiss. Fortunately his mind hadn't been rendered entirely useless in his surprise and he wrapped his arms around Padmé and began kissing her back. He held onto her in a surprisingly fierce grip until they were forced to break apart for air.

Padmé glared at him, "I don't understand what it means to be Sith. I didn't grow up like that. That doesn't mean I think anything less of you. I'm sure that there are people out there who are, from a Republic perspective, much less civilised than the Sith. You find Gamorreans all over the place. Just because I don't necessarily understand doesn't mean I intend to throw you away. You are my Master, I am your Queen. I like to think it balances quite nicely."

Travien grinned happily at that thought. He put her down on the floor, although not taking his arm off of her and turned them around so that they were walking towards the exit, the chest they got from Jabba bobbing along behind them. Padmé frowned for a moment,

"Travien? How did he know who you were? I mean, it seems strange that a Hutt crime lord would just give in so easily."

Travien snorted, "The average lifespan of a Hutt is about a thousand years. I sincerely doubt that there is anything more than six generations separating Jabba from several of the Hutts I encountered before. The Hutts knew where they stood with me. Most of them supported me and were very well rewarded for it, others tried to sell me to my enemies. We did not part on good terms, sufficed to say. I was a right bastard when I hit fifteen. Puberty is tough on its own, but a pubescent Sith Lord? That was not a good thing to happen to the galaxy."

Padmé cringed, knowing the kind of temper tantrums that the teen years could bring. It took all of her effort to contain some of hers.

Padmé nodded, "So we find the others, hand a third of the money to Watto and buy the parts along with Shmi's freedom?"

Travien smirked, "Not quite. While I was in Watto's head I poked around a little bit. He's been trying to get rid of the T-14 hyperdrive for ages but nobody wants it. I can get that cheap but it seems that the prize money is supposed to be half of what is in here. So I give him a sixth of the money and use most of the rest to buy Shmi's freedom. Then I want some damned clothes."

Padmé giggled slightly at that but stopped as they left the building and walked back to the podracer. They saw that everyone was still there. The two of them walked up to the group, Travien's problems solved for the time being. Travien smiled,

"Congratulations Jedi, you can do as you're told. That's fantastic. Well, it appears that Jabba wanted to give me the prize money in person, so I think that we can get moving." Travien turned to Anakin, "Anakin, would it be a problem to ask you to take the racer back to your house." Anakin shook his head, and Travien turned back to Qui-Gon, "Do you want to come to see Watto with me, or do you want me to deal with all of it?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "No. I would rather see this done."

Travien nodded and thought for a second. He turned to Eirtaé and Rabé who had been entirely silent, "Could you two accompany Anakin please. There's no telling who might be around." The two girls nodded their heads and walked off with Anakin to arrange transport for the podracer.

Travien gestured to Qui-Gon, "Shall we, Jedi? There's business to be done."

The group walked along in silence, although Qui-Gon frowned occasionally at the box that was floating beside Travien. Travien smirked and sat Padmé on the box halfway through their journey. Padmé giggled slightly at the action and allowed herself to be seated. Qui-Gon frowned heavily at the frivolous use of the Force. They continued on through the streets, ignoring those who turned to gawk at the unusual trio with the floating box and ended up back at Watto' shop.

They group walked in and waited until Watto noticed them. He looked up from the work he was doing and snarled,

"You! I lost everything because of you! You knew he would win the race!"

Qui-Gon shrugged, "That is immaterial. Will you free the boy?"

Watto shook his head, "No, it wasn't fair, you can't have him!"

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps we should take this up with the Hutts?"

Watto seemed to sag and Travien decided to twist the knife, "No need Jedi. I just came from a meeting with Jabba. He was awfully happy to see me. It seems he remembers things, I must have had some dealings with his family before my…disappearance."

Watto looked between the two, "Fine, take him." He said dejectedly,

Qui-Gon nodded, "I will be back for the spare parts later. Lord Shan?"

Travien regarded him for a moment, "Stay outside, Jedi. I have a few matters to discuss with our friend here."

Watto panicked when he realised that the Jedi was leaving him alone with the Sith but remained as calm as he could. Travien extended a hand to Padmé as he lowered the trunk. She took it and he lifted her to her feet before it hit the ground. Travien used the force to open it and took a small sack from the counter. He pushed a sixth of the money into the sack and handed it to Watto.

"That is per the terms of our deal, one third of the prize money." Watto protested,

"That's never a third!"

Travien smiled, "Yes it is. The rest of this money is from Jabba. A gift of goodwill, you might say. Now, how much for the parts?"

Watto stated that they were a sixth of the money, Travien looked insulted,

"Horseshit. I know damn well that you've been trying to shift that hyperdrive for ages. You can't because no-on here wants it. I'll pay you half of that."

Watto glared at him, "Two thirds." He snapped.

Travien thought for a moment and nodded, "Agreed, two thirds of the amount you have already been given. I have one final piece of business for you and then we're done."

"What is it?"

Travien smiled at him, "I have an offer for you, the prize money plus a third."

Watto's eyes lit up in greed, "What do you want?"

"Shmi Skywalker."

Watto snapped out of his greed, "No, no chance, she's not for sale."

Travien chuckled darkly, "I apologise, I failed to state the full terms of our deal. One and a third of the sum of the prize money and your life, Toydarian. I will be leaving this world with both Skywalkers, you get to profit from that, or not." Travien used the Force to close around the neck of the shopkeeper who was choking loudly. Travien released his hold as Watto coughed and spluttered,

"Alright, take her. The money stays."

Travien nodded and took a small amount of money from the chest while putting the sack back in. He smiled up at the Toydarian shopkeeper and kicked the chest over to him, "All yours. The Jedi will be back for the parts later, we're about to meet with the Skywalkers so you won't have see them again. I expect delivery of those parts to be included. If you are lucky then you will never see me again."

Padmé and Travien left the shop with the transmitters and codes for Anakin and Shmi. They walked outside into the blistering heat of Tatooine and Padmé turned to her boyfriend, both of them ignoring Qui-Gon who had walked up beside them,

"Are your negotiations often like that?" she asked quietly.

Travien chuckled, "Not often. It's rare that I need to acquire something that important. Mostly I seek out another Vendor but that was not possible in this case. Given the situation I will likely never be able to do business with him again. Not something that bothers me, but not my preferred method of operation."

Padmé nodded, "But this time it was necessary, right?"

Travien nodded, "Absolutely, it didn't matter how much we had, he would have kept her out of spite. Besides, the man was a slaver. Just because he didn't kidnap them from their homes himself doesn't mean he was any less guilty. He would have kept anyone else a slave as well. Can something happening to a being like that truly be criminal?"

Padmé sighed, "I have no idea. It's not something I've ever had to think about. I won't object to what happened there, but for your sake, keep it to a minimum."

Travien nodded, "I know. That was just a desperate situation."

Qui-Gon caught up to them, "What happened?"

Travien looked at Padmé, who nodded. Travien handed him the data pad with the codes for Shmi's implants and the transmitter, "The toydarian didn't want to negotiate."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "Then how did you get these?"

Travien shrugged, "I have my ways." He saw the look on the older man's face, "If I'd have killed him then I would have walked out with the money too."

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, "Very well, but what is all of this?"

Travien smiled, "That is Shmi Skywalker's freedom. You can tell Anakin that I did it, or you can tell him that you did it. I'll leave you to weigh the pros and cons of that."

The group walked on in silence as Qui-Gon considered this latest action by the Sith teenager. His actions seem to contradict themselves. What did he have to gain from freeing Shmi Skywalker? He had already admitted that Anakin had chosen the Jedi Order rather than the Sith or neutrality. What on earth would it serve him to exert himself like that? Qui-Gon puzzled over these actions as they returned to the house. They entered the house,

The occupants turned to them as Qui-Gon spoke up, "Well Anakin, thanks to your podracer we now have the parts we need. Watto's delivering them to the ship when we all leave."

Anakin looked slightly sad, "So you're leaving then?"

Qui-Gon smiled, "Your welcome to come with us Anakin. You could be a great Jedi."

Travien nodded, "He's right kid. You've got a lot of potential."

Anakin just frowned, "But Watto would never let me go. He'll keep me here forever."

Qui-Gon smiled at the boy, "Watto has already agreed to you being freed. You are free Ani."

Anakin's eyes widened with joy, "I'm free. I get to go with you, in your spaceship and become a Jedi?!" They all nodded happily. They were confused when Anakin suddenly frowned,

"But what about mom, I can't just leave her here." He said plaintively,

Shmi smiled gently, "Anakin, it's your dream. You go with them."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "That won't be necessary. I was unable to secure your freedom, Ms. Skywalker." They nodded in resignation, "Travien however is able to use methods that are…against the rules of my Order. You are free to leave when you wish, you may even accompany Anakin."

Anakin's eyes widened dramatically and he charged at Travien, "!" he screamed as he latched onto the man's waist.

Travien chuckled, "You're welcome, Anakin. I'm not quite done with my invisible bag of tricks just yet, but if you could find a way towards copying those designs of yours I would be eternally grateful."

Anakin broke away from him with a huge grin on his face. He ran back to his mother, "Isn't this great mom, I'm gonna be a Jedi and they're taking us from this rock!"

Shmi smiled, "It's fantastic. Ani." She frowned at the others, "I don't know how we can repay you. If there is anything we can do."

Qui-Gon didn't look sure about what to say so Travien stepped up, "You gave us shelter and helped us when we needed it. We are repaying you." He smiled and waved his hands in a shooing motion, "Now go, pack. We can't leave if we all just stand here."

The two former slaves rushed off and began to pack their things. Qui-Gon turned to Travien with an assessing glance. Something was wrong about this entire scene. He was being far too nice. It was drastically out of character for him. Then again, Travien didn't seem all that stable, was he just unstable or was he constantly playing a part? He was a Sith there was no doubt about that but he wasn't a typical Sith. He was unpredictable and he was far more dangerous than any being Qui-Gon had yet encountered.

Anakin and Shmi walked into the room with a bag being held by each of them and a skeletal droid following behind them. Travien looked at the droid, it was certainly unfinished but he couldn't decipher its purpose.

Travien turned to Anakin, "Who's this?" he asked,

The boy seemed to brighten up at the question, "This is C-3PO, I built him myself. He isn't finished yet, but I'm still working on him."

Travien nodded, "Impressive. I remember dad had a homemade droid. What type of droid is this?"

Anakin smiled and stood up, glowing with pride, "He's a protocol droid, but he speaks loads of different languages as well."

Travien smiled, "Any military capabilities?"

Anakin frowned, "Military capabilities?"

Travien nodded, "Dad built a protocol droid of his own. It was about seven feet tall, kinda funny, from Mum and Dad's perspective anyway. Dead eye shot with a blaster and better with a lightsaber than most Jedi Knights, although not necessarily Masters. He could translate anything except the Sand People's language." Anakin had wide eyes at the description, "I probably have the schematic lying around somewhere at my place, I'll forward it to you. Maybe you can find something that you can use."

Anakin nodded frantically, "Thank you, Travien sir."

Travien smiled, "No need to thank me Anakin. HK-47, my father's droid, was like a brother to me. It would be nice to see something of him back in the galaxy." He looked around at the waiting people, "Well, let's get this expedition under way. Sooner we get to Watto, the sooner I can get off this planet and find somewhere where I can have a nice warm bath."

They chuckled and marched out of the door. Qui-Gon was following behind the group slightly suspiciously. Travien was going out of his way to ingratiate himself to Anakin. The thought of Revan's 'protocol' droid running around the galaxy was slightly chilling. Still, why was Travien trying to do so much for a child that would soon be far beyond his reach? This became more and more suspicious. He would need the assistance of the Council. Only they would know what course of action to take.


	10. Chapter 10

The group reached Watto's shop in no time and stood outside the door. Travien smirked, "Well, I'm persona non grata in there. Anyone who wants to talk to the useless thing is more than welcome, I'm gonna work on my tan." With the he sat on the floor leaning against the outside wall of the building in question. Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow and walked into the shop, followed by everyone but Padmé and the handmaidens, who sat beside Travien.

Watto saw Qui-Gon walk in and flew over to them. The others noticed that his hand flew reflexively to his neck. Qui-Gon frowned at the odd movement, but his mind quickly made the connection. He suddenly knew a lot more about Travien's 'negotiations' with Watto.

"I'm here for the parts that Travien paid for earlier." He stated,

Watto's eyes darted around, resting briefly on Anakin and Shmi, "And ah…where is Travien?" he asked slowly,

Anakin was the one who answered, "He's outside. He said he wouldn't be allowed in here, why?"

Watto shook his head frantically, "No reason. Come on, your parts are waiting for you. I got them onto some animals already so you can be on your way."

They were led out to the back where Watto kept his stuff. They immediately saw the animals and their burdens so they took them around the shop and met up with Travien and the handmaidens who were happily waiting for them. In reality they were all leaning against the wall, their eyes closed, feet extended in front of them. Padmé was leaning her head on Travien's shoulder, Rabé's head was on Padmé's shoulder and Eirtaé's head was on Rabé's shoulder. Travien had laid his head on top of Padmé's. They all appeared to be asleep.

Qui-Gon coughed significantly. Travien 'woke up' and looked at him. The Jedi frowned,

"I am pleased to see that you are all well rested, but perhaps you could begin to move so that we can get back to the ship?"

Travien smiled, "Come on girls, you heard the meddling old codger. We have to be up and moving. We ungrateful youngsters have to pull our weight around here, you know."

The handmaidens giggled along with Padmé as they got up and dusted themselves off. Travien smiled at the glowering Qui-Gon and shook his head,

"Every time you come out of that shop you glare at me, what is it about this street that you hate so much?" he asked innocently.

Qui-Gon shook his head in frustration and wandered off away from the Sith Lord. The others followed him slightly and Travien frowned. The aura he had sensed from before was back. This time it was approaching the ship. Most likely it was after them, although what it wanted was a different matter. Travien would have to deal with that soon. The important thing was to get the others back to the ship so that he could indulge himself.

They left the 'city' rather quickly. Qui-Gon was apparently eager to get away. Travien briefly wondered if the Jedi had felt the same thing as he did, but dismissed the thought almost instantly. They were Jedi after all. Travien had never had a great deal of contact with the Order but what little contact he had cemented his belief in their generalised incompetence. He wondered what it was about being Jedi that meant you became deaf, dumb, blind and stupid.

Travien sighed causing Padmé to look at him and frown, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged, "Do you sense that? It's getting closer."

Padmé closed her eyes in concentration and they snapped open suddenly, "Is that what you sensed?"

Travien nodded, "He's been hanging around for a couple of days. He and his master evidently don't believe that I am who I say I am. Gods I hope that's not the master." He shuddered, that would be a fate worse than death to find out that his once proud Empire had been reduced to…_that_. His people had fallen far, sure but there was no reason for everything to have become that bad. He shook himself of those thoughts and returned his attention to Padmé.

"I'm pretty certain that this guy is the Apprentice." He stated hopefully,

Padmé nodded, "What do you plan on doing with him?"

Travien shrugged, "Not really sure. I'll see if he's a decent challenge. It's been a while since I've had to actually fight for my life. It could be fun, but I doubt it. I don't think he's really a threat to us." Travien thought for a few moments, "He might be a threat to Anakin because he's not trained. He'll definitely be a threat to the Jedi because they're, well, they're Jedi. That says it all really. If you can get the others out of the way then I can have my fun."

Padmé snorted, "Well, I suppose it is only fair, you do need to keep up to your old standards after all."

He hugged Padmé happily, "Don't worry sweetheart, a couple more years and you'll be up to my level, I promise."

Padmé gave him the puppy dog eyes that she had developed just for him, "A couple of years?"

Travien nodded firmly, "Yep. It's not just about knowledge; it's about experience as well. Remember, you don't have nearly a million Sith all trying to take your job from you. Although the election process for being Queen does sound brutal, I'll give you that."

Padmé laughed, "It's not nearly that bad. It's a lot easier than _your_ election process. I can still lose."

Travien laughed loudly, "There is that."

They walked in silence the rest of the way. Travien kept track of the presence moving towards them. It was moving too fast to be a normal Sith so he presumed that there was a vehicle involved somehow. He decided to wait and see. Padmé smiled, this journey had been good for all of them, in retrospect. She was still not entirely comfortable with Travien's supposed Dark Side, but that was natural, she had never really been exposed to darkness before. She'd seen people have temper tantrums, but never real, honest to god, Darkness. It was slightly terrifying from her perspective. Not only that she loved this man, and she did, but that she was becoming darker. Padmé knew that Travien would never allow her to fall, she wondered if this was her cynicism or pragmatism coming to the fore.

Qui-Gon looked back at them. In all honesty they worried him greatly. Travien was dangerous, that much he had known since he met the boy. What was a surprise was just how deeply connected he was to the Queen. That connection would cause a lot of problems soon. He knew he would have to tell the Jedi Council that not only one Sith, but two, were now operating within the Republic. If he were truly honest with himself he was scared. This boy might well herald the end of the Order if something wasn't done about him. Qui-Gon's musings were cut short as he sensed a dark presence approaching. This must have been the presence that Travien felt earlier. He dropped back to talk with the Sith Lord,

"I assume that you have felt it?" he asked.

Travien nodded calmly, "I've been tracking it since we left Mos Espa. It's on a speeder of some sort, that's the only way it can move as fast as it does."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "Why did you not tell me of this?"

Travien turned an even stare on the Jedi, "I am more than capable of dealing with such an upstart. Beside, these Sith are the ones who instigated the attack on Naboo. I want my vengeance for that."

Qui-Gon looked doubtful, "You are so certain that you can defeat him? What if he is hiding his power as you are?"

Travien chuckled, "He is not. If he were then I would only just have detected him. To hide his full power and release that amount would require him to be stronger and more skilled than myself by several orders of magnitude. The current Sith are not capable of that. Perhaps I will explain why another time. Take Anakin and Shmi and head into the ship. I will deal with the Darksider."

Qui-Gon nodded uncertainly and began hurrying Shmi and Anakin towards the ship. They had almost reached it when they heard the whine of a speeder bike. Travien looked behind them and saw a dust cloud in the distance, it was fairly large and moving towards them. He turned to Padmé,

"You lot head towards the ship, I'll deal with this."

Padmé nodded unhappily. Even if he was the most powerful being he had ever encountered she didn't like leaving him alone to deal with this being. Everyone could get lucky. Nevertheless he ushered the handmaidens and guests back into the ship where she saw Panaka waiting for them.

"Your Majesty, where is Lord Shan?" Padmé could see Obi-Wan behind him scowling at the name.

Padmé sighed, "Lord Shan has discovered one of his people on the planet. He is dealing with it now."

Obi-Wan cried out, "There is a Sith on Tatooine?! Why in the blazes would they be here?"

Padmé glared at him like he was an idiot. She was fast beginning to agree with Travien's opinion of Obi-Wan, "Well the first one came here with us. He was wearing the black armour. The second one is probably working for whoever started the blockade in the first place. Travien will deal with it."

Obi-Wan snorted, "I still think that trusting him is a foolhardy venture."

Padmé glared. Yes, she was a Queen and shouldn't get involved in petty shouting matches but she was also very protective of Travien. His title of Sith Lord often blinded people to the caring person he was underneath.

"Travien has done a fantastic job of protecting me. He has become a productive member of Naboo society, despite his upbringing. You were tasked with the resolution of the blockade. Tell me who I should be trusting?" she snarked.

Everyone looked at Padmé in shock, apart from Eirtaé and Sabé. They both wanted to rip into Kenobi. The training that Travien was giving them had pulled the group together as very close friends. Sabé and Eirtaé would never be as close to Travien as Padmé was but they all felt a connection to their teacher. For now they settled for watching Padmé rip into the arrogant padawan who stood there gaping at her tirade. The group soon settled and waited for the action to begin outside. They gathered around the nearest window to watch.

Travien stood with his back to the ship watching the approaching cloud. His patience was wearing thin when he eventually saw the speeder bike at the front of the approaching column of dust. It was a single man craft which didn't surprise Travien. A lot of Sith warriors were minimalists when it came to possessions, he never really understood that but it wasn't his decision. He didn't particularly care either. He watched the Sith, who was an Iridonian, dismount the bike almost a hundred feet away and walk away from it. He smiled as the Apprentice walked up to him.

Travien nodded, "Greetings Apprentice, what brings you here?"

The Apprentice looked surprised at being greeted in such a fashion but shook it off. He would play this fool's game. He could sense the being's power and it was nowhere near his own.

"I have come for the Queen."

Travien nodded, "And your name, Apprentice?"

The Iridonian assessed him for a moment, "I am Darth Maul."

Travien nodded, "Maul, hmm, unusual name. I am sure that the naming conventions of our people have changed during my exile."

Maul looked confused, "Our people?"

Travien smiled disarmingly at him, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Darth Travien Shan. Lord of the Star Forge."

Maul snorted, "My master warned me of you. You are nothing but an imposter, a copycat playing on the name of a greater Sith!" Maul ignited his blade.

Travien sighed and released his full aura. On the ship Padmé gasped, this was more power than she had seen from Travien before. Maul looked at him with terror,

"I am no imposter, Maul. My exile has seen our people diminish greatly. Your master is no Sith Lord. Such a title would be contingent on my death. You have a choice, return to your master, warn him of his folly or face me now. You choose."

Maul raised his sabre, driven by his fear of his master he attacked viciously. Travien whipped his lightsaber from the clip on his thigh and activated it mid-swing. He raised it and lazily blocked the oncoming attack. He smirked as Maul drew back and began throwing lightning fast blows, raining down hits only to be blocked by the lazy and disinterested movements of Travien.

Travien smirked, "Is this all that your master has taught you?" Travien sighed, "Very well. I must ask though, why do you want the Queen?"

Maul panted a little, he had been trying his hardest to attack the man in front of him but he couldn't get through his defences,

"Lord Sidious has commanded that I take her back to Naboo. There she is to sign the treaty with the Trade Federation. Once that is done she will be killed."

Back on the ship Padmé didn't know what had been said but Travien aura darkened massively. It was like watching an eclipse. That Sith had said something to set him off and he was now truly angry. The girls shuddered at the darkness they felt and Padmé understood where the fear she believed irrational had come from. Months ago she would have walked away from Travien if she had felt this. Now, she loved him too much to walk away. Besides, he would never hurt her. She was watching when one of the pilots came in,

"Ladies, Gentlemen, we have the sensors working properly now. We can hear what they are saying."

Padmé nodded and the dialogue was piped through the ship's speakers,

Travien glared at the terrified apprentice, "You do realise that you're getting nowhere near the Queen, don't you?"

Maul sneered, driven by mind numbing terror, "My master has ordered that I kill you and the Jedi. Therefore you will die and I will have the Queen."

Travien smiled, "It's been far too long since I killed something, you know that? You are a pathetic little insect, Maul. You would never have made it through the Academy on Korriban. When my Sith eventually rise again, I will see to it that the taint of you and your master is washed away in blood. You will not die here, though you may wish that you had."

Travien charged forwards, his sabre slamming into Maul's lightsaber, raised in defence at the last moment. The impact threw Maul back almost ten feet onto the ground. The Sith looked at Travien amazed,

"Get up!" he roared, "Fight me!"

Maul got up hesitantly and was met with a flurry of blows. He had to activate the second blade of his lightstaff just to be able to block. Travien sneered at him,

"So, you use Ataru with a lightstaff. Apparently the Sith are not just weak but stupid as well. Your hands are too close to the edge of your blades, your movements are slow and forced. You lack the necessary focus to maintain prolonged combat. You are barely worth my time."

Maul was driven back again by another flurry of blows. These ones were even faster than before; Travien was allowing the Dark Side to enhance his speed and strength. He did not care where Maul would attack as he was giving him no opportunity to do so. Eventually he pushed Maul backwards and unleashed a torrent of Force Lightning at the Apprentice. Maul collapsed to the floor screaming. Travien kept up the attack for almost a minute, by which time there was no way that Maul could fight back.

Travien walked over to him and took away his lightsaber. Attaching it to a clip on his belt he knelt down beside him as the Sith glared up at him hatefully,

"You are an embarrassment. I hereby strip you of the title of Darth and your taken name of Maul. You are hereby named Concido until you earn your title back, it means 'failure' in my mother's native Talravian, a fitting name, I think. _I_ am the Lord of the Sith, not the insignificant being you so devotedly call your master. Remember this well, Concido, I belong to Padmé Amidala, Queen of the Naboo. Just as I belong to her, she belongs to me. Hell will freeze over before you or your master touch that which is mine!" he hissed.

Travien stood up and reached for the communicator he had taken from Qui-Gon without him noticing. Back in the ship Qui-Gon suddenly reached a hand to his belt and noticed that his communicator was missing. The handmaidens giggled as he scowled out of the window.

Travien activated the communicator, "Operator?" he asked cheerily.

Obi-Wan answered it, "What do you want now?" he snapped,

Travien sighed, "Padmé would get upset if asked for your still beating heart on a plate, so I'll happily talk to my Queen instead."

Padmé took the communicator from him, "Travien, what do you need?"

Travien smiled, the sound of her voice always had a calming effect on him, "Could you send two of the handmaidens out here. I need two large containers of water, two quarterstaffs and my flag from the race."

Padmé frowned in confusion but nodded anyway "Alright. Sabé and Eirtaé are bringing it all to you now. Is there anything else?"

Travien shook his head, not knowing they could see him, "No, I'll be done here in a moment."

Travien waited for the Handmaidens to come out carrying the supplies he requested. He smiled as they put the objects down,

"Is there anything else we can do my Lord?" asked Sabé.

Travien shook his head, "No, thank you girls. You can go back in now." They nodded slowly and hurried back into the ship. Travien turned his attention back to Maul, who was still curled up on the ground.

He staked the two quarterstaffs in the ground, parallel to one another and about a meter apart whilst at a forty five degree angle to the ground. He tied the flag between them, providing some shade from the Sith. This confused him but Travien carried on. He dragged the Sith over to the shade and drew his lightsaber again. Maul screamed as Travien cut through his calf muscles. The injury was not deep enough to catch a major blood vessel but it was enough that Maul could no longer walk. Travien put the lightsaber away and dropped Maul onto the ground.

He placed the two containers of water beside the downed Sith,

"I hope for your sake that you master taught you how to heal yourself with the Force. The suns will change position soon, so this shelter won't last for long. I'll let you keep your lightsaber. Consider it a reminder. I think you may learn something valuable from this, Concido. Have fun."

Travien walked away from Maul as he screamed curses at the back of the Sith Lord. Travien smiled at the anger he sensed from the being and made a conscious effort to let go of the Dark Side. He could feel it draining away from him as he got closer to the ship. By the time he reached the Nubian vessel, that had already been repaired, he was almost back to his normal levels of darkness, which is to say he was mildly gray. He also shielded his aura as he walked up the ramp.

He was greeted at the top of the ramp by a crowd of nervous people. The handmaidens were looking slightly awkward and the Jedi regarded him with outright suspicion. Padmé stepped forward and hugged him. Travien relaxed into her embrace and smiled. She still cared for him. The others waited for the moment to end as the boarding ramp was raised and the ship took off. Padmé stepped back from Travien, still smiling slightly,

"You're going to have to explain what happened back there. I know what I saw, but I think there is something deeper there."

Obi-Wan broke into the conversation, "What was that thing?!"

Travien looked at him placidly. It was the least hostile expression that Travien had ever given him, "That _thing_ as you put it was an Iridonian Sith Apprentice, a badly trained one at that."

Padmé nodded, "Come on, let's go into another room. I want to sit down."

Padmé led them into the throne room where she sat down on the throne, causing both Anakin and Shmi to gasp. The girl they had housed and helped wasn't just another handmaiden, she was the Queen.

"Now, Travien. Why did you leave him there?" she asked,

Travien considered his answer for a moment, "Concido was a Sith Lord. I'm not entirely sure how he rose to the title, to be honest. A Sith of his power would have been killed instantly by the others for naming himself Darth."

"Why do you call him Concido?" interrupted Padmé,

Travien smiled briefly, "He tried to kill me and failed. Normally he would have died for that but…he has potential. He holds his anger too close to himself, if he could learn to let go, he could be a truly spectacular Sith."

Qui-Gon looked at him incredulously, "A truly spectacular Sith?! He tried to kill you and the Queen!"

"Please! He was no more a threat to me than he was to Padmé. Whoever his master may be, they are either a fool or a weakling!"

"How so, Travien?" asked Padmé,

Travien shook his head, "I don't understand and that's the problem. A Sith his age should have been a much more accomplished fighter. He should have been at least a match for Sabé or Eirtaé. He may have been a challenge for them, but it would have been a forgone conclusion. I'm curious as to why the others haven't taken him apart already."

A snort came from Obi-Wan, "What others? There are only two Sith at a time."

Travien rounded on Obi-Wan with a dangerous gleam in his blind eyes, "You've mentioned that before, padawan. What do you mean there are only two? Be swift."

Obi-Wan glared at him, "I don't answer to you."

Travien's face twisted, "You are withholding information regarding a potential threat to the Queen. As royal bodyguard I am a member of the Naboo security force. I am more than happy to place you under arrest, Jedi. Tell me what I want to know!"

Qui-Gon moved between them, "There are only two Sith, a master and an apprentice. It has been that way for as long as anyone remembers. Are you saying that this is not the case?"

Travien shook his head, "Gods No! I ruled an empire of twenty billion living sentients. Almost a million of those were Force sensitive Sith. Anyone of those Sith could have challenged me for the throne. Not many of them would have a problem with ganging up on me to get rid of me. It's why I had to be so powerful, why father had to be so powerful." Travien looked stricken, "By the Force, no wonder the Sith are a mere myth. Everything we built entire empires and cultures, all gone."

Obi-Wan barked a laugh, "Culture? Is that what you call your brutality?"

Travien snarled, "Yes, just as you hide your hypocrisy the same way."

Obi-Wan looked outraged, "We are not hypocrites!"

"Tell that to the thousands of Jedi who died as Exiles for doing the right thing! Tell that to the Jedi Exile, Ian Kenobi. They stripped him of his power, his life and his family when he did what was necessary. Frankly your Order disgusts me, as does the fact that the Republic allows you to exist. At least we never gave people the illusion of choice. We never lied to them about their options!"

"How do we take away their choice?" asked Qui-Gon with a raised eyebrow,

Travien sneered angrily, "So, you're telling me that you didn't try to mind trick Watto? You didn't try to force him to accept currency he couldn't use?"

Qui-Gon stuttered, "That was necessary. We had no choice!"

"And there is that famous hypocrisy. At least when I conned him he knew that I would love nothing more than to wrap my hands around his slimy throat and throttle the life out of the goddamn slaver. But you, no. You were happy to wrap his mind in the Force and break him to your will, no matter how it would affect him. Just like the council did to my father!" he snarled. He turned to Padmé,

"I'll tell you about it another day, but I have to go." Padmé nodded dumbly as he turned around and left the throne room. Everyone in the room was absolutely shocked at how deeply his hatred of the Jedi ran. The three force users he had trained began to realize the sheer strength of his self control. Padmé was about to lay into them when Sabé got there first,

"Who the hell do you people think you are? How dare you attack him? Why, is it because you don't understand his culture, his people?" she hissed,

Obi-Wan looked indignant, "How can you defend him! He's a Sith!"

Sabé sneered as he had to Travien, "Really, and how many Sith have you encountered, not darksiders, but actual honest to god, Sith?"

Obi-Wan stuttered and Qui-Gon took up the conversation, "I must admit that Travien is the first Sith that any of the Jedi has knowingly encountered in a millennium."

Padmé threw up her hands, "Fantastic, just fantastic!" Everyone turned to stare at the Queen after her outburst.

"So Travien has just discovered that everything he ever fought for is gone, nothing of his culture remains and you decide to base your criticisms of him on one thousand year old propaganda. Did either of you try to get past the Sith aspect of his life? I sincerely doubt it. Travien is a trusted member of the royal household. From this point on, bear this in mind, an attack on him is an attack on the sovereign household of Naboo, understood?" The two Jedi nodded, stunned. Padmé sighed, "Captain Panaka, inform me when we reach Coruscant." With that final command she left the room. Sabé and Eirtaé just looked at each other and left. Panaka turned to the Jedi,

"Antagonizing them wouldn't be wise right now. The Queen is as devoted to him as he is to her. I don't like him, personally but I have to admit is damn good at his job and he is a…well he's not a good person, but he isn't a monster."

Obi-Wan shook his head, "How did they end up being involved like that? Can she not see how dangerous he is?"

Panaka shrugged, "She's getting some of the best training available frankly. They are close. I've seen him visibly rein his own powers in at a single word from her."

Qui-Gon frowned, "What do you mean?"

Panaka sighed, "As you'd expect of any Sith, Travien has a nasty temper. The palace staff started doing some serious research after we found out about that. A couple of months ago someone attempted to assassinate the Queen, said she was too young and a bad ruler. The idiot started badmouthing her to defend his actions. That was the first time I'd ever seen him lose control thankfully it was the last. Half of the objects in the cell crumpled like tin. It was hard to breath and everything. Travien hit the guy with lightning and it didn't look like he was going to stop. The Queen just said his name and he backed down. It took a half hour for things to stop shaking."

Padmé walked into the room she shared with Travien as the Jedi digested what Panaka was telling them. What she saw terrified her more than anything. Travien sat at the head of the bed, his eyes were glassy and he was staring straight ahead of himself. His knees were drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. He rested his back against the wall and just sat there. Padmé walked into the room slowly and sat down on the bed beside him. She wrapped her arms around him and was worried when he didn't move.

They had been sitting there for almost a half an hour when Travien finally spoke. His voice was hollow and it almost sounded dead.

"Twenty Billion lives. I sacrificed twenty billion lives, over a thousand worlds. They relied upon me. They depended on me. I was their Lord; I was the child of Revan. Our empire was supposed to last a thousand years, like the Sith Empire of Ajunta Pall. I thought that someone would have survived. I thought that I could wake up and find them again." He gulped, "I never expected this. They're gone, all of them. Korriban is desolate, Ziost is uninhabited and Rakata forgotten. Over a thousand worlds were part of the most powerful single coalition in the galaxy, all gone. Like dust in wind. Their bones will be gone as their names are forgotten. Their battles are meaningless now, just as their sacrifices. I delivered the last blow. I thought that the survivors of the battle, those who left at the beginning, would have become stronger and rebuilt the empire. They didn't though."

Padmé hugged him closer, "You can rebuild it, can't you?"

Travien shook his head mutely, "No. The Republic stretches too far. If I tried to rebuild the Sith they'd find out too quickly. We'd all be killed."

Padmé sighed, "Is there no way you can do it without a war?"

Travien began thinking; this was no longer just about Naboo. He had to begin rebuilding his entire civilization. He had the Star Forge but he didn't have the man power. Yes, he could build a droid army, but that was dangerous. Droids were not intuitive thinkers…unless he used the template for HK-47. Alter it slightly and lace in some battle droid programming. He would still need living breathing sentients and Force users to counter any interfering Jedi, but it could be possible.

Perhaps he could convince…no that was for later, deal with this now and then begin rebuilding.

Travien nodded slowly, "I might be able to. It would take years, but I might be able to do it legitimately. Especially if this other Sith Lord does what I want him to do. He might just play right into my hands." He looked at Padmé, "You do realize that any hint of my Empire re-establishing itself would drive the Jedi to attack and more than likely start a war anyway, don't you?"

Padmé looked at him unhappily, "Are you certain?"

Travien sighed, "How about this idea? I won't move to establish my Empire while the Republic exists. If there is a war however, then I make my move and you get to help me forge that Empire into whatever is best for the people of the galaxy. How's that? Not a true Sith Empire, but a way to ensure not only people's safety, but their freedom as well."

Padmé frowned, "That's not exactly my ideal solution. I was hoping for neighbouring states or something like that."

Travien just shrugged, "The Jedi would never allow that to happen, love. Remember, they tried to hunt me down for no other reason than my parents being Sith. I highly doubt that they would leave a Sith Empire alone."

Padmé just sighed, "Whatever happens it is all going to end in bloodshed, isn't it?" she asked sadly,

"Not if you don't want it to. I've already said that I won't endanger the democracy that you love. If something happens and the Republic looks to collapse or be conquered, then I'll jump into the power vacuum that it would create. I'll keep as much democracy as I can, if anything should happen. You never know, I might have scared this Sith off. I doubt I will be doing much Empire building soon anyway."

Padmé nodded, "That's probably a good thing."

Travien chuckled, "Besides, the Republic doesn't even have an army. If I'm going to conquer the galaxy I'd like to do it properly. Can you imagine how ashamed my parents would be of a political takeover?" Padmé giggled slightly as plans began running through Travien's' mind


	11. Chapter 11

Elsewhere on the ship Obi-Wan Kenobi stood in front of his master with his head bowed. The younger man knew that he had done something wrong with the way that his master was pacing up and down their quarters.

Qui-Gon turned to his padawan, "Are you trying to get us killed, Obi-Wan?" he asked wearily.

Obi-Wan's head shot up, "Master?!" he was horrified that his master would think he would attempt such a thing.

"It is the only conclusion I can draw." He said sternly, "Travien is _dangerous_, Obi-Wan. I am not sure if you have noticed but he is far more powerful than either of us. If he could have made our deaths look accidental then we would already be dead. It is only the Queen that stays his hand."

"But he is a Sith, Master!" protested Obi-Wan. He couldn't believe that his master would defend such a creature.

"Yes!" snapped Qui-Gon, "He is a Sith. We are trapped on this ship with a Sith who is currently going through culture shock and his three students! Whether they are Sith or not an education within the Force creates extremely strong bonds, as you well know. At least one of those students has combat training that exceeds even my own. If you continue to antagonize him then one of them will snap, and without the backing of the council we do not stand a chance!"

Obi-Wan just nodded his head in submission. He knew that he had made a foolish mistake in antagonizing the Sith. Something about the younger man simply caused him to want to argue with him.

Qui-Gon sighed, "I understand how you feel, Obi-Wan and I am sorry for snapping at you. I simply fear that the Republic and the Jedi Order are in great danger from Travien."

Obi-Wan frowned, "Master, how could he be a threat to the Republic?"

"He is in possessions of items of great power, padawan. The same objects his father used to attack the Republic, only we are far less ready for him now than the Republic was when Revan attacked. I beg of you to be careful."

Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully.

Travien looked at Padmé thoughtfully. She was tired and they hadn't done any training for the last couple of days. The journey to Coruscant was around seven days and they were only two days in. He knew that she was getting tired of the constant conflict between him and the Jedi. Travien looked to the slightly dozing Padmé and smiled lightly. He did some of the most insane things for her,

"Padmé, are you asleep?" he asked quietly. Not getting an answer he decided that she was and gently got up. Travien left the room and walked through the small walkways of the ship. He found Eirtaé first and stopped the handmaiden,

"Eirtaé, are you doing anything right now?" he asked her.

The handmaiden stopped in surprise at Travien actually leaving his room, he had not done so since the discovery of the nature of the current Sith. She shook her head,

"No, I'm not doing anything right now, why?"

Travien nodded, "Okay, find Sabé, if she's not busy bring her with you to the Throne room. I've been neglecting your training for Padmé's which is unfair of me. I'm also about to do something stupid and would like you two to be there in case it goes wrong."

She nodded slowly and left to find Sabé. Travien himself began walking through the corridors and eventually came to the door he was looking for. He stood in front of it for a moment and sighed. The things he did for Padmé. He knocked on the door and waited for a moment.

The door hissed open to reveal a slightly shocked Obi-Wan Kenobi. Travien raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, "I'm here to talk, nothing more." Obi-Wan nodded suspiciously and stepped back, allowing him to enter the room. Qui-Gon stared in confusion as the young Sith Lord entered their quarters in a peaceful manner.

Travien sighed as the door closed, "Let's get the obvious out of the way, shall we?" he said, "You don't like me, which is fine because I don't much like you, either. However," he swallowed any insults he had; there was more at stake here, "No. I know there will come a time when I enter into a conflict with the Jedi Order, which is all but certain." Qui-Gon nodded slowly and Travien continued, "I also know that you intend to tell your Council all about me when we reach Coruscant." They looked to interrupt but Travien raised a hand, causing them both to flinch, "This is of no consequence to me. I have other issues to deal with and right now one of those issues is Padmé's health."

Both Jedi looked at him puzzled, "If this is an issue for you to deal with then why do you come to us, surely you are not asking us for help?"

Travien looked disgusted, "Unfortunately that is exactly what I am doing." Two sets of eyes opened wide in shock, "Padmé is worried for the condition of her people, she is worried for what the council will do to me when we reach Coruscant and she is worried about the possibility of a fight breaking out between you and I before we get there. All of these concerns are causing her stress which is causing her health to deteriorate."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, "So why did you come here?"

Travien closed his eyes briefly, "I came to offer a temporary peace." They looked at him expectantly and he shrugged, "Right now the laws of the Republic will protect me from the Jedi Order and I am not so far gone in my hatred not to see that instigating a conflict would see me dead. I have nothing to gain by attacking you. Trying to rebuild my father's empire at this point would only drive Padmé away from me and that is not acceptable." He took a deep breath, "I have been neglecting the training of my other two apprentices in favour of training Padmé. My involvement with her does not forgive this action. I'm inviting you both to observe the lesson and join in. If you find something that you wish to learn then I may teach you."

Obi-Wan frowned, "You have just admitted that you will likely find yourself in conflict with us one day, why teach us?"

Travien grinned, "My uncle was a Mandalorian, a true Mandalorian. He believed in honour and glory. Father made sure that I spent enough time with him to adopt some of those beliefs. Basically, if I am to one day kill you in combat, Padawan Kenobi, I would like to know that I defeated a worthy opponent. If I am to die then it will be at the blade of a better warrior, even if I have to teach them myself."

Qui-Gon stood hesitantly, "I must confess my curiosity at your training methods. What guarantees do we have that you will not harm us?"

Travien sighed, "Some minor injuries are expected, superficial burns, maybe. One of the girls almost took off my arm once but we have training settings on the sabres. As for a guarantee, Padmé's health is more important to me than some vendetta. You will not pass Death's boundaries on this journey, not by my hand."

Qui-Gon nodded, "Very well, we shall join you and see what may be learned." Obi-Wan thought his master was crazy but held his tongue. They both followed Travien silently out of the room and into the throne room. They could see two of the handmaidens there. The eyes of both girls opened widely,

"Travien, what are the Jedi doing here?" asked Sabé.

"The conflict between us is causing Padmé too much stress in an already stressful situation. I'm extending an olive branch." The girls looked amazed and Travien looked around. There wasn't much in the way and he looked at the throne before shrugging,

"Padmé won't mind if I put it back later." He said as the Throne lifted off the floor and moved against the back wall. Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow at this. Travien seemed to use the Force effortlessly.

He nodded to himself, "Okay, Sabé, you first. I want to see how far along you've come. We may need to speed up your training a bit." She nodded and drew her sabre. Travien activated his sabre and they stood opposite one another. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched as Sabé attacked Travien intensely, never managing to land a single blow, but Obi-Wan was forced to admit that she was likely more skilled than he was. Travien sighed and called a stop to the fight,

"Stop, Sabé." She backed off a bit and waited, "Your technique is good but you're fighting yourself at the same time. This isn't too much of a problem but one we need to get fixed before you can really advance. You ready?"

"Yes."

He nodded, "Good. Close your eyes, don't worry, I won't attack."

She nodded and closed her eyes. Travien smiled, "Right, now reach into the Force. Don't push or try to rush, just relax into the currents. Like you did when you first connected, okay?"

He saw her relax and waited a few moments. He knew that she needed time; unfortunately she didn't have much of it.

Travien nodded happily not noticing as Padmé walked into the room and cloaked herself in the Force. Qui-Gon spotted to her and nodded. She returned the gesture with a frown on her face and turned back to the lesson,

"Good, you're doing well." He said, his voice almost hypnotic, "Now, don't let go of that feeling. Stay relaxed; let the world flow around you. It's not important, only the Force is important, only your goal is important. Your goal is to attack me. Now, fight me." He said forcefully as Sabé launched herself at him. Qui-Gon was astounded by the change in the girl's style; where before she had been uncertain and hesitant, now she flung herself at her opponent with abandon. Her manoeuvres were fast and fluid, resembling a much better match to Ataru, although she seemed to hold back on the more acrobatic elements within the ship.

The battle lasted all of twenty minutes when Sabé backed away panting, but grinning.

"That was incredible, thank you." She said happily,

Travien shrugged, "Not a problem. You need to practice drawing on the Force. Don't use it when you need it, make it natural, like breathing. It's a part of you; you're a part of it. Not to use the Force when you can is like going everywhere on one foot."

She nodded and Travien turned to Qui-Gon, "Care to try your hand, Jedi? No debilitating injuries, of course." To say the handmaidens and Padmé were surprised was like saying that space is slightly large. Qui-Gon nodded and Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot up. This was absolutely insane.

Travien grinned, "You'll find padawan, that there is very little in this galaxy that is sane. You may want to be more careful when shouting out thoughts like that, for someone like myself that was a holo-vid announcement."

Obi-Wan gulped and nodded as Qui-Gon took up his position. They began slowly, building up to a blinding pace of slashes and parries that Obi-Wan was having difficulty keeping up with. He could still see the combatants though and while his master wore a look of the utmost concentration he could see the Sith was as calm as ever. It was terrifying to see that his master was being dismissed so easily. Obi-Wan's eyes widened as Travien took on a look of concentration and the attack that Qui-Gon had been sustaining began to be pushed back incrementally. Obi-Wan stood stunned as his master was overwhelmed by the Sith Lord with barely any effort. He noticed the Queen beside him as she spoke to him,

"Do you want to know the truly terrifying thing?" she asked him. He raised an eyebrow,

Padmé smiled, "Not only is he still shielding his aura, he is watching each and every one of us. He hasn't even called on the Dark Side of the Force. Before you tell me that the Dark Side will always fall to the light, I won't disagree that the Dark Side is an awful way to live, but if one can let go of it then it makes an incredible weapon."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Are you saying that I and Master Qui-Gon should learn the dark side?"

Padmé shook her head, "No, I don't fully understand it but Travien believes that Jedi are unsuited to the Dark Side. We can ask him later, it looks like your master is about to lose." Obi-Wan looked around and saw that the Queen was absolutely correct. Qui-Gon attempted what was clearly a desperate slash and overshot his target, allowing Travien to plant his knee in the Jedi's stomach and as he pulled Qui-Gon to his feet by his hair he placed the lightsaber to his throat.

"You lose." He said calmly.

As they separated Qui-Gon nodded, "That was impressive. How did you beat me so easily?"

Travien shrugged, "That wasn't me. _You_ decided that you were going to lose the battle. It was your decision to lose. A decision I don't think you know that you made."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "And how did I make that decision?"

Travien smiled, "You divorced yourself from your emotions. You were completely separate from them."

"That is how a Jedi fights." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"No it isn't," disputed Travien, "It's how a Codie fights."

Qui-Gon frowned, "A 'Codie'?" he asked.

"Yeah, a Codie." said Travien, "In my experience there are two types of combatant within the Jedi Order. There are the ones who fight by the Code and they are normally moderately good. You divorce yourself from emotion but you're usually a stage behind a Sith warrior."

Qui-Gon interrupted, "What do you mean a stage behind?"

He huffed, "A Jedi Knight is more often than not a match for a Sith Apprentice and a Jedi Master is a match for a Sith Knight. A Jedi Grand Master is a match for a Sith Master. There are very few Jedi who are a match for a Sith Lord; most Sith Lords are in fact killed by their own apprentices."

Obi-Wan frowned, "That's barbaric."

"No it's not." Travien sighed, "Look, a Sith who loses themselves to the Dark Side is dangerous because they have very little control. The Sith Lord does more than just act as a warlord. As a Sith Lord every other Sith in existence answers to me. I have to keep control of them, if I manage to find and defeat the other Sith and I cannot control them I fully expect to be killed for it. If I cannot maintain my control then I am not a Sith Lord, I am an imposter. The strongest must rule, not can but _must._"

The Jedi looked at him astounded, as did the others. Such insights into the Sith were rare but they helped to piece together the puzzle that was Travien Shan.

Qui-Gon gulped, "How do you suggest I improve?" he asked,

Travien took a deep breath, "You need to fight with your emotions. You need to embrace the battle, not divorce yourself from it."

"That is the path to the Dark Side." Stated Qui-Gon,

The young Sith shook his head violently, "No it's not. The path to the Dark Side is anger, hatred and fear. To embrace the battle means to enjoy the test, to relish having the chance to push all of your limits, to be able to let go and to truly liberate yourself from all control for the sole purpose of winning." He snorted, "I doubt that's something you're willing to try."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "It sounds like a very Sith idea."

Travien smirked at that, "It's not actually. It is in fact a Mandalorian one but given the number of times the Mandalorians and the Sith fought side by side I don't think that makes it much better from your perspective."

Qui-Gon knew that he would be able to pass this on to the Order if he managed to succeed in learning it and that would give them an advantage in the eventual conflict between them and Travien.

He nodded, "Very well, I am willing to try."

Travien smirked happily while the others all gaped at him. He nodded and stepped back into position. Activating his lightsaber he gestured to Qui-Gon to do the same. The Jedi did so hesitantly and returned to the practice mat. Travien left himself open and Qui-Gon attacked. Travien deflected a downward slash to the sid and replied by punching Qui-Gon, barely avoiding breaking his nose. He whipped his lightsaber in an attack that slammed into the Jedi's lightsaber,

"Can you feel it?" grinned Travien, "There's no intricacies, no different parts. You either win or lose."

He highlighted his point by head butting the Jedi through their sabre lock and sending several slashes at the reeling Jedi. All were blocked but only just.

The grin remained, "Can you feel the blood pumping in your veins? Can you feel the Force flowing through you, urging you to push your limits, to break the barriers holding you back?!" they could all see a slightly manic glint in Travien's eye that scared even Padmé slightly until they noticed the same thing in Qui-Gon, who began attacking back ferociously,

"Yes, Jedi, That's it! It's not the Dark Side but the thirst to win! You have to want to win, to need to be the best!" Travien easily blocked several slashes and attacks that were significantly faster than the last. Obi-Wan openly gaped at his master's blatant use of his emotions, but he could not sense the Dark Side.

Travien deflected another series of attacks and this rally became more intricate. It was a series of twirls, blocks and attacks. Neither man had stopped moving at any point during the exchange of blows and the only exception to the sounds of clashing sabres the nearly mad cackling from Travien. Travien deflected a last slash from Qui-Gon and spun round, planting his boot firmly on Qui-Gon's chest, throwing him back into the bulkhead. Qui-Gon looked at Travien and grinned, sharing the same fire in his eyes,

"It's exhilarating isn't it?" asked Travien, "To break free of your expectations, to let yourself go for a change."

Qui-Gon nodded, "I have to admit it is liberating. I never expected to be able to enjoy combat without falling to the Dark Side."

Travien nodded, "And just think, Jedi. You haven't used the Dark Side, the handmaidens would know if you had, and yet you have still done something that no Jedi has done in at least a millennium according to you." Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow and Travien grinned almost sadistically, "_You have broken your chains, Jedi. The Force has set you free._"

Qui-Gon's eyes widened in horror and he backed away from Travien, his lightsaber clattering to the floor. He hit the back wall and Travien snarled,

"No, no you don't Jedi. I wasn't lying when I said you hadn't used the Dark Side. You don't get to run and hide. You've just taken a good look at yourself; you don't get to turn away from that. All you can do is embrace who you are. It's no different from flying or any other sport." He glared, "_Now pick up that lightsaber and finish what you started._" He commanded.

Obi-Wan turned to Travien, "What in the blazes are you talking about?" he demanded,

Travien kept his eyes firmly on Qui-Gon as he spoke,

"Peace is a Lie there is only Passion.

Through Passion I gain Strength.

Through Strength I gain Power.

Through Power I gain Victory.

Victory shall break my Chains.

The Force shall set me Free."

He looked at the panicked Jedi Master and continued talking,

"There is no Emotion there is Peace.

There is no Passion there is Serenity.

There is no Ignorance there is Knowledge.

There is no Chaos there is Harmony.

There is no Death there is the Force."

Everyone was looking at him in curiosity when he finally, and for the first time since he awakened, delved into his full strength within the Force to impress upon them his next words. The Force users felt like they were drowning in the power coming from this young man, both Light and Dark. If they had they not been in hyperspace it would undoubtedly have been felt for light-years.

"There is Emotion, yet there is Peace.

There is Passion yet there is Serenity.

There is Ignorance yet there is Knowledge.

There is Chaos yet there is Harmony.

There is Death yet there is the Force."

He pulled his power back under his own control and glared at Qui-Gon, "Pick up the goddamn lightsaber and finish what you started Jedi. Finish what you started or forever be condemned to mere mediocrity, just another drone of the Order always hoping but never managing to hit that spot that catalyses change throughout the galaxy."

Qui-Gon gulped and took a step towards Travien. After another step he held out his hands and called the lightsaber to him. The blade still inactive,

Travien nodded, "Now, what do you fear most, Jedi?"

"A Jedi knows no fear." came the reply. Travien chuckled hollowly,

"Fool. All sentient beings know fear. What do you fear Jedi?"

Qui-Gon looked at him, "You. I fear the death of the Order." He said quietly.

Travien nodded and raised his now active lightsaber in a salute, "Then face your fears, Jedi."

The watchers were astounded as Qui-Gon activated the lightsaber blade. The Jedi charged forward and Travien spun himself around almost cutting a perfect circle in the floor as he pirouetted on the spot, deflected Qui-Gon's lunge and punched the Jedi as he flew past. Qui-Gon turned and began a more controlled attack. The same strength was there as the last spar, but there as something else. This time there was a determination. Travien knew that the old Jedi could never beat him, he was a master of four different lightsaber forms whereas most Jedi never mastered more than two. Niman, Shii-Cho and Soresu never really interested him beyond the basics but it was more than enough. Qui-Gon kept up the furious attack until twenty minutes later when he exhausted himself and backed down.

Travien nodded, "I assume you have learned something from this?"

Qui-Gon nodded breathlessly, "Quite a lot, actually. You are rather a good teacher."

Travien smiled, "Modesty forbids me to comment, but ego forbids me from denying it, so I shall stick with thank you." He smirked, "You're not a bad student, although I prefer working with those who haven't been polluted by the Jedi Code."

To Obi-Wan's surprise Qui-Gon chuckled, "I can see why you would think that. I'm curious, you don't even seem tired."

Travien smirked, "Oh I am, but that can wait until later. I ascended to the Sith Throne at _fourteen_, Jedi. I had a million Sith all after my job from that point on. You never stood a chance against me, but you might against the others."

Qui-Gon chuckled weakly as he sat down against the wall of the throne room. Travien turned to Obi-Wan,

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you don't want to try your hand at this then?" he said happily. Obi-Wan shook his head vigorously, there was no way he was duelling someone who had practically dismissed his master as insignificant. The rest of the session went well with Eirtaé advancing as far as Sabé had. Eventually it was just Padmé and Travien in the room. He moved the throne back as she began interrogating him.

"Alright Travien, what was all that about? Why were you helping the Jedi learn how to fight?"

He shrugged, "You were worried about the chances of us breaking into a massive fight. The amount of stress you're under is beginning to affect your health. I simply chose to remove a cause of the stress. They know as well as I do that there will come a time when we are on opposite sides. They also know that they cannot attack me when I have committed no crime. Today they walked away from me with a lightsaber in their hands having learned something new. That makes for rather an impressive peace offering, I think."

Padmé smiled and leaned forward to hug him. Wrapping her arm around his waist and relaxing as he felt his arms surround her.

"Besides," Travien started, "I get the feeling that the older Jedi is going to try spreading that particular lesson through the Order. I guarantee that more than a few Jedi will fall because of that. I was actually impressed by his self control. I wonder how many others are like that."

Padmé huffed, "Perhaps we can concentrate on saving Naboo, then you can rebuild your Sith Empire, how's that?" she asked, although her question was muffled by Travien's chest.

He smiled, "I live to serve, you majesty." Padmé nodded, "Good, now it's late, time for bed."


	12. Chapter 12

The rest of the time onboard the royal cruiser passed peacefully. The Jedi refused to train with Travien again, probably due to the nature of his training but the handmaidens and Padmé were often seen in the Throne room working on their technique. It slightly concerned the Jedi that the handmaidens made visible progress each time they went to another practice session.

Something that was unexpected was that Travien had been spending a lot of time with Anakin. They had been trading schematics between each other. Travien seemed to be interested in getting Anakin to modify a small fighter design. The wings were narrow and pointed leaving the central control pod/cockpit completely exposed while he was often seen accessing the ship's onboard database to make modifications to the design of an unusual ship. It was a capital ship that was shaped like the beak of a bird of prey. It was a most unusual design and where it had started out at six hundred meters long it was now supposedly nine hundred. Nobody was quite willing to ask exactly what these designs were for and neither male was telling. Padmé suspected that Anakin didn't really know and was just enjoying the opportunity to design ships. She in fact had a sneaking suspicion as to what Travien was doing but decided to keep it to herself. If he was preparing then that was fine by her, he had already promised not to start a war, although Padmé was certain that he knew something she didn't.

Padmé shook her head at the thought and smiled. Most people would be worried with the amount of planning that Travien did that their relationship might be another plan of his and she was sure that under different circumstances she would be, but she had almost unlimited access to his mind whenever she wanted it. Travien himself had shown her how to get around his mind shields. What did concern her was the possibility of Travien predicting events inaccurately and jumping the gun on his war, but that was for another time.

She walked up to the door of the quarters that they shared and walked in and found that Travien was meditating for some reason. Padmé wasn't entirely sure why he was meditating this time as he normally only did that when someone had irritated him or he was…nervous. The Jedi Council suddenly sprang to her mind. He must be nervous about how they would respond to his presence. She shrugged off the thought, there was nothing either of them could do right now, and sent a small nudge at him through the Force. One thing that Travien had insisted on during her training was that she learn to use the Force without the flashy hand gestures that the Jedi used so often.

Travien opened his eyes and looked at Padmé curiously, "What's up love?"

She smiled at him, "We've just dropped out of hyperspace. We'll be landing on Coruscant in the next ten minutes."

Travien nodded and jumped up, "Well then, I had best sort my armour out, no idea what the Jedi might take it into their heads to do."

Padmé nodded silently as he began re-affixing the plates of armour to his suit. He looked up as he finished,

"Padmé, do remember what Gunray said just before we left Naboo?"

She frowned and shook her head, "No, what?"

Travien thought for a moment, "He had assurances that the treaty would be ratified by the Senate. That was what he said."

Padmé nodded, "Yes, I remember now, what's wrong?"

Travien smiled grimly, "Shield your aura Padmé. Tell Sabé and Eirtaé to shield theirs. The only person who could give that assurance is a Senator, the only reason is because they want the invasion to succeed. Concido's master has gone to quite a bit of trouble it would seem."

She nodded, blanching at the implication, "Are you saying that a member of the Senate is the Sith Lord?" she asked incredulously,

Travien shrugged, "Whether they're a Senator or just a member of staff I don't know, but it seems the most likely option. Now let's go shall we?" She nodded and they both left the room, heading up to the cockpit. Travien finally took notice and couldn't hide his amusement quickly enough. He always thought that some of the outfits that Padmé wore were funny but this one was hilarious.

They walked into the cockpit to find the Jedi already there. Travien ignored them, he may have tolerated them for Padmé' sake but they didn't mean they would survive if he had the chance. He walked up and stood behind the pilot. He had actually become quite friendly with Ric Ollie.

"How're we doing, Ric?"

The pilot smiled, "We're about to land, Lord Shan. You might want to head over to the landing ramp."

Travien nodded, "Fantastic, thanks Ric."

With that the Jedi walked out of the room with Travien and Padmé behind them. They felt the familiar thump of the ship landing and waited patiently. They were soon rewarded with the hiss of the door opening and the ramp lowering to allow them access. He walked down the ramp a step behind Padmé and noticed a man standing at the platform waiting for them. This was evidently the Senator Palpatine that Padmé had told him about, he was wearing an outfit that seemed all blue and black but was rather unremarkable otherwise. He allowed himself to reach out into the Force and grinned. Oh the Force just _loved_ him. First he gets unfrozen into a time that has forgotten about the Sith with almost all of his valuable resources intact, then he finds that the Republic has no army and no experienced officers should it get one and now the upstart little bastard who dare call himself a Sith Lord was waiting at the fucking platform for him. He decided to wait before he told Padmé anything, this was a matter between Sith.

He could sense the Force barrier that the man was using. It as rather ingenious actually, he had to admire it for a moment. It allowed him to access the Force to his hearts content while all the time obscuring his presence from the Jedi. Unfortunately the barrier itself was heavily steeped in the Dark Side and therefore a great big bloody beacon to Travien. Padmé caught his grin,

"What's got you so cheerful?" she asked,

Travien's grin faded slightly, "It's not something you want to know about, love."

She frowned, "Tell me."

"Later, okay, we have a lot to get done first." She sighed and nodded.

Travien turned to one of the guards and pulled out a datapad, "Hey, Michael, can you do me a favour?" The guard nodded and walked up to him,

"Of course Lord Shan, what do you need for me to do?" 'Michael asked,

"This datapad contains a message I need sent. The destination is already programmed, could you get someone to send this off for me? Make sure no-one reads it first." He said quietly. Michael nodded and rushed back into the ship. As the guard left Travien turned to the rest of the group before they left the ramp,

"Can we keep my name and title quiet for the moment people, even from Palpatine? You can all just call me Travien for the moment; I'd like to keep everyone on their toes for as long as possible."

The Jedi Master raised an eyebrow at him and Travien got the message, "Except you two," he said gesturing to the Jedi, "You two just can't talk." Everyone chuckled at this, including the Jedi. They had grown to understand when the bodyguard was making a joke and there as no rancour behind his tone. They decided silently to just call him bodyguard. The rest of the group nodded slightly confused, even Padmé was caught off guard by the request but she acquiesced nonetheless. They walked down the ramp as another man, who had grey hair arrived followed by a large group of blue robed men who had their faces hidden by what looked like plastic masks. Travien inwardly snorted at the 'armour' they were wearing as they approached the two men.

Padmé nodded and bowed slightly, "Senator Palpatine, Chancellor Valorum, thank you for meeting with us." The rest of the group, including the Jedi bowed. Travien nodded his head. Padmé glared at him as she received a telepathic message from her beau,

'_I gave up on the idea of a bloody conquest, I haven't actively tried to turn anyone to the dark side, I haven't actively tried to corrupt you and remove your innocence nor did I involve myself in the mass murder of every slaver on Tatooine. That change in my behaviour was for you, love. But there is no way in Mandalorian HELL that I am bowing before the Supreme Chancellor of the bloody Republic. I am a Sith Lord, Padmé. It is in my very nature to want that man dead. The fact that I nodded is an achievement in itself!'_

Padmé huffed, "Fine, be like that." She turned to the Chancellor, "I apologise for my bodyguard, Chancellor, he was raised outside the Republic and lacks certain manners."

Both men nodded graciously and ignored Travien, a situation he was more than happy with as Palpatine began talking,

"It is a great gift to see you alive your majesty. With the communications breakdown we began to fear the worst. I am anxious to hear your views on the situation, although I think you have a great deal to tell me." He said with a quick glance towards Travien, "regardless, Queen Amidala, may I present to you Chancellor Finis Valorum."

The tall stern looking man bowed, "It is an honour to meet you in person your majesty."

Padmé returned the gesture, "Likewise Chancellor."

With that the impromptu meeting broke up with Padmé leading Travien and Anakin with her towards a small transport that would take them to the Senator's apartments where they could talk. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stayed behind to talk to the Chancellor.

"Master Jinn, Padawan Kenobi. What is your report on the situation?"

Qui-Gon very nearly shuddered, "It is somewhat worse than I had imagined. We need to talk to the council immediately. The situation is far more complicated than I had predicted." Valorum nodded, resigned to the fact that he was not getting the information he desired.

Travien fazed back into the conversation going on. He had never been much good at politics and there was living proof. They were in the Senator's apartment at 500 Republica while the Jedi undoubtedly tattled on him to the Republic. The room was fairly tastefully decorated, mostly red which Travien could appreciate. There were several artefacts around the room which seemed mostly decorative but a few of them exuded the Dark Side. It was almost exhilarating to be near them and the younger Sith Lord could understand why the upstart kept them around.

He turned away from the large windows he was standing in front of, they gave an excellent view of the Coruscant skyline, and tuned back into the conversation.

Palpatine was talking, although the monologue was beginning to irritate Travien, "I fear your majesty, that the Republic is not what it once was. The senate is full of greedy squabbling delegates, intent on lining their own pockets. There is little interest in the common good. To be frank, your majesty, I have little hope that the Senate will act on this invasion." Travien frowned,

"That would be…tragic." He said slowly. Padmé winced at his tone of voice, knowing it meant that something bad would be happening to someone soon. Palpatine nodded in a sympathetic manner, obviously missing the undertones of the comment,

Padmé tried to reassure her trigger happy boyfriend, "Chancellor Valorum seems to think otherwise."

Palpatine sighed, "The Chancellor has very little real power, I am afraid. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption." He looked genuinely saddened by this, "The bureaucrats rule the Republic now." Travien almost burst out laughing, oh this guy was good. Travien really doubted that he had the power to rule over a true Sith Empire, but he was one hell of a politician. Palpatine's acting was far better than his own.

Padmé sighed, "What options do we have?"

Palpatine was completely unaware of who was in the room with him and carried on, "Our best option is to push for the election of a new Supreme Chancellor, one who would control the bureaucrats." His speech slowed down as he made it look like he was thinking, "You could call for a no confidence vote in his leadership, which would allow the senate to elect a chancellor more capable of dealing with our crisis." Travien smiled, Palpatine must have spent decades on this plan. He had to admit it was absolutely genius and for someone with no military power it was rather impressive, but it was entirely political and far too dangerous.

Padmé looked offended and Travien knew she was. The idea of betraying a friend was something she abhorred,

"Chancellor Valorum has been our strongest supporter!" she exclaimed,

Palpatine nodded sadly and sent a Force compulsion at her to agree with his previous statement. Travien intercepted it before it reached her without Palpatine or Padmé being any the wiser. He was glaring at Palpatine somewhat, making the man slightly nervous,

"Our only other option would be to submit a plea to the courts." He said with a put upon air.

She huffed frustrated, "The courts take even longer to decide things than the senate. We need to do something now, senator. Our people need to be freed from the Trade Federation."

Palpatine sighed, "Realistically your majesty I think we are going to have to accept Trade Federation control over our planet for the time being." He said sadly,

Padmé turned to Travien, who walked around the sofa and stood in front of her so she could see him more easily,

"Travien, what is your opinion of this?" she asked regally. Palpatine looked surprised that she would ask the opinion of a mere bodyguard,

He thought or a moment before answering, "I think that we may have to start doing things my way. I sent a message off just after we arrived to set everything in motion. There is little chance of a peaceful resolution with the Nemoidians, I'm afraid."

She breathed out loudly, "What of the Chancellor, what do you feel about the No-Confidence vote?"

He shrugged, "You know my opinion of the Republic in general, your majesty. In this specific case though? I find that one thing remains constant in any large scale government." Padmé raised an eyebrow, "As my father said; only the strongest can rule." This caused Palpatine's eyebrows to shoot upwards, "If Chancellor Valorum cannot control his advisors then he has no business being in charge. Besides, the chaos within the Senate can only work in our favour."

Padmé frowned, "How so?"

"Remember, Gunray spoke of Senatorial support. A No Confidence vote renders the entire body paralyzed for a short time."

Padmé sighed, "Very well. You believe that I should do this? You believe that this is best for Naboo?" she asked, stressing the last question. It was a statement that puzzled Palpatine, but Travien understood. She wanted to make sure he wasn't jumping the gun on his Empire.

Travien shook his head, "I genuinely believe that this is best for Naboo." She nodded,

"Very well. I shall prepare to meet the Senate later. Will you join me, Travien?"

He smiled, "In a moment love, I need to ask the Senator something first." She nodded, slightly puzzled, and left the room, taking everyone else with her. Travien waited for a moment as everyone left the room and walked over to the windows, waiting for Palpatine to lose his patience. It didn't take long,

"You wanted to speak to me, Travien, I believe it was." he asked genially,

Travien nodded, "Indeed. I believe we are capable of a civil discussion, you and I." Palpatine nodded, something was very wrong here, but he didn't show it and remained silent. "Good. I believe that we can avoid any undue unpleasantness, however I feel that I should tell you, if you try to place a Force compulsion on Padmé ever again I'll take great pleasure in flaying the flesh from your bones, Sidious."

Palpatine's eyes opened wide in shock, "What…who…" he gathered himself, "I don't know what you are talking about, sir." He said indignantly and began to walk out when the door in front of him shut and refused to open,

"We are not done here yet." Palpatine turned to face Travien, "I knew you the instant I stepped out of the ship. Your apprentice wasn't all that impressive by the way. If I didn't know better I would say you deliberately sabotaged his training, but I really don't care one way or the other."

The aging senator decided to stop acting, "So, you believe yourself to be a Sith Lord, do you boy?"

Travien chuckled, "Oh I know I am. I admit I'm rather young but the circumstances are complicated. I have to say, that suppression shield you have up is a work of art, you know." Palpatine blinked for a second as Travien continued talking, "Do you have a similar one up here? I would expect that you don't want the Jedi poking their noses into your business, after all."

Palpatine nodded, "Yes I do. I assume you are hiding your abilities as well?" Travien nodded once, "Feel free to relax then, young Travien."

Travien smiled and dropped most of the barriers that were hiding his aura. The room was flooded with power and Palpatine was surprised to find that it was almost as dark as his own. There was the very real possibility that this boy was in fact a Sith Lord.

Palpatine gulped, "May I ask what you want to talk about?"

Travien smiled happily, "You, in a way. I'm curious about the current incarnation of the Sith. I find myself wondering why thousands of years of Empires have vanished into the solar winds leaving stories of nothing more than brutal monsters bent on murder, rape, oppression and destruction."

Palpatine waved him to sit down. They both took seats and Palpatine began talking, "I believe what you wish to know starts with Darth Bane." He briefly explained the rule of two and the progression of the hidden Sith. How Bane created the rule of two from the holocron of Revan.

At the end of Palpatine's history lesson Travien sighed, "I know the holocron you're talking about. It was sitting in the Temple of the Ancients, where my mother and father lived." Palpatine's eyes lit up as Travien continued talking, "The particular holocron Bane learned from was broken. Dad got pissed off with it and threw it against the wall before abandoning the idea of a holocron entirely. I hate to tell you this, but Bane was an idiot."

Palpatine's glared at the younger man, "On what do you base that, Travien?"

"When I took the throne of Dark Lord from my father, Darth Revan, and his Queen, Lady Bastila, I was fourteen years old. At that point any one of the million force user Sith in my empire could have challenged me, a fourteen year old blind kid, to the throne. If they won then they would have been the Lord of the Sith." Palpatine nodded slowly, "They did, frequently. I fought to maintain my throne. I was not the Sith Lord because I was the only one who could inherit the title of Darth. I was the Sith Lord because I was the goddamn best."

Palpatine gulped, "Darth Bane believed that while the greatest strength of the Sith was the infighting that culled the weak, it was also their greatest weakness. He believed that by having two Sith there would be no more fighting like that."

Travien huffed, "Have you ever heard of the law of diminishing returns, Sidious?"

Palpatine shook his head and Travien nodded, "Alright. Let me explain. When you make a copy of the original you lose something. It's infinitesimal and doesn't matter but you've lost it, following me?" Palpatine nodded, "Good. Now you make a copy of the copy and you lose something else, get it? You go down the line until you have barely a fraction of what you started with, still with me?"

"Yes, but I hardly see what this has to do with our current situation?" he snapped,

Travien glared at him, "Bane teaches his apprentice something, but forgets a technique. The Apprentice kills Bane, losing his knowledge forever, and takes an Apprentice of her own, she is now the master. Her apprentice kills her, but she has forgotten something. It continues down the line until we are here, a thousand years later. I wonder how much you were not taught because Bane was a moron listening to a broken recording."

Palpatine just sat there trying not to betray his shock at the valid point that the young man had raised, "You do make a compelling argument. However I get the feeling that this is not what you wished to speak with me about, Travien."

Travien nodded, "You are correct, of course. I wish to speak with you about Naboo, and Padmé in particular." Palpatine nodded to show that he was listening, "Leave Naboo out of your next scheme. I'm happy to leave you alone right now, you're not bothering me and I get the opportunity to indulge in a full scale slaughter sooner or later because of this, so I'm happy. On the other hand I've taken a liking to Naboo. After this you make sure it stays clear, understood?"

Palpatine sighed, "I believe you have made your point regarding Naboo, Travien."

He nodded, "Good. Next on my agenda, you can call me Lord Shan. That is my title after all."

Palpatine raised an eyebrow, "And may I ask what you are Lord of? I am the only real Sith here apart from yourself and despite your obvious power I am not quite ready to submit to anyone's rule."

Travien chuckled mirthlessly, "True. I am the Lord of the Star Forge." Palpatine's eyes widened again, "Good, you understand the significance of that." He relaxed back into the chair he was sitting in, "My last point is Padmé." Palpatine calmed himself down enough to only raise one eyebrow, "She is likely as highly trained in the Force arts as my mother was by this point." Palpatine interrupted him,

"Do you mean to say that the Queen is Force Sensitive?" he asked incredulously,

Travien nodded, "Along with two of her handmaidens, all of whom are under my tutelage." Palpatine gulped, "Indeed. Padmé is not yet a match for me but she soon will be. I'm using a perversion of a Jedi Technique to train her and it is working spectacularly. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is, either. My problem is that she lacks the…killer instinct that we possess. She is not interested in conquest, be it of worlds or individuals, which leaves me in the enviable position of watching her back." He paused for a moment, "Concido told me what you had planned for her."

Palpatine frowned, "I do not know anyone by the name of Concido."

Travien smiled briefly, "Ah, I believe you call him Maul. I believe he could be a rather impressive Sith but for a few glaring flaws and left him alive in the hope that he would improve. I do hope you taught him how to heal himself."

Palpatine nodded, "Indeed. Maul returned here several hours ago cursing madly, I assume that was your doing?"

Travien shrugged, "He attacked a Sith Lord with the intention of killing him and failed. The price for that is normally Death. I merely stripped him of the title of Darth and the name given with it. Concido is a word from my mother's native Talravian, it means failure. When he can prove to me that he is not then he will be allowed to call himself Maul again. Now we come back to you, though."

Palpatine gulped, Travien's features turned cold and harsh, "Your plan to kill Padmé is going to fail, horribly, so you know. I will not allow her to die. I have pledged myself to her and she has pledged herself to me." He leaned forward, "I am in a conundrum as to what to do with you. My instincts tell me to kill you in the most painful manner possible and yet my reasoning tells me to stay my hand."

Travien looked at him in a calculating manner, "I am in the process of calling back my old banner men. Those who once served me will do so again. You are not a threat to me, currently. If you should mount another attack against Padmé then I will be forced to bring you to heel. I have survived the Sith Empire and the best the Jedi Council could send after me. I will survive you. However, I feel that you could eventually be useful to me. We shall walk away from this incident unscathed, you and I. Do you understand me?"

Sidious leaned forward, "Do you truly think you can defeat me?" he asked threateningly,

Travien laughed and brought his full power to bear as he had against Qui-Gon Jinn. Sidious leaned back from the sense of not only power and darkness, but also control.

He brought his power back under his control, "Even if I cannot kill you, I will injure you enough that Padmé could easily finish the job and she will not take your betrayal of Naboo well at all." Sidious leaned back, thoroughly cowed and nodded,

"Good," said Travien, "Then we are done here." Travien stood up and left the room leaving Palpatine to consider just how horribly wrong things had gone. He had a lot of influence within the Senate, despite being from a minor mid-rim world, and influence meant power. On the other hand, power was a power all of its own. He had no idea of the Queen's Force sensitivity and would have exposed himself if Travien hadn't intervened. That scared him the most, Darth Shan evidently had a use for him and it was one that he was not being told of. That could only mean that Travien had successfully interpreted his plans or was making his own that would benefit from the current action.

What he had done to Maul or Concido now, was interesting. He was right, Maul had the potential to be better but he held his anger to close to the surface rather than merely using it when it was beneficial to him. Maul had indeed brought back the banner which Lord Shan used as a makeshift shelter and it had spurned Sidious on to making a detailed search on anything that he could find. He decided that he would have to modify his plans in the future. Darth Shan was not someone he could ignore. This would complicate matters. Maul was most likely dead; he could never hope to stand up to Travien Shan. Palpatine shook his head and left the room, he had a lot of thinking to do.

Travien himself was rather pleased with how things had gone. He was perfectly aware that he had almost no leverage on the Senator that could be used in a public forum. The only thing he could rely on at the moment was his power and training in the Force but it proved sufficient to bring Palpatine into line for the moment. He knew exactly what Palpatine was and he knew that the man wouldn't give up his title of Sith Lord so easily; it was why he had sent the details and schematics to the Star Forge just as they left the ship. It had contained several plans but he had no intentions of building an army just yet. Travien walked into Padmé's room, letting go of his plots and plans for the moment,

"Hello love. I'm sorry that took so long. I needed to know what our chances were in the Senate. You know me, always planning." He hated lying to Padmé but things had to happen in a specific order for everything to go right and correctly.

Padmé looked at him shrewdly, knowing his hatred of politics all too well. She began to enter his mind but paused as he put up a miniscule resistance. It was nowhere near enough to stop her and they both knew it but she paused and looked at him nonetheless.

"Travien, what's going on?"

He smiled sadly, "I need things to happen Padmé. I need you to act in a certain way and you won't be able to do that if you know what is coming." He paused, "If you truly want to know, then I won't stop you, and I'll tell you everything. If you can wait for the right time, then I ask you to trust me. What I am doing is for the protection of Naboo, okay? It means too much to the both of us for me to risk it, or you."

She nodded, "I hope you know what you are doing, Travien. I love you too much to lose you, but I won't let you attack the Republic while there is a chance it could restore itself."

He nodded, "I cannot attack the Republic as things stand. I have neither the will nor the resources. Right now all I can do is manipulate things to our benefit." Padmé nodded and hugged him, even though she was only wearing half of her clothes, "I'm sorry to have to push you, but I just want to be cautious especially with the Jedi around." He smiled and nodded. She grinned as the handmaidens surrounded him as well, "Good, now stand still while the girls measure you for new clothes." He sighed but raised his arms as indicated, trying to ignore the giggling coming from the handmaidens as the fourteen year old Queen bossed the powerful Sith Lord around.


	13. Chapter 13

The council chambers were nowhere near as relaxed as the Senatorial apartments. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi stood before the entire Jedi High council. They were nervous as hell. They did not want to be delivering the news that they had to the Council, this would not go well at all.

Mace opened the meeting, "What news do you have of your mission, Qui-Gon?"

"It has failed, Master Windu. The Trade Federation attacked me and Obi-Wan before negotiations began. We were forced to flee the ship and make our way to Naboo in order to assist in the Queen's escape."

Yoda frowned, "Nervous you are. Fear something you do."

Qui-Gon nodded, surprising the council, "Indeed Master Yoda. When we reached Naboo we encountered a being that I genuinely fear. More so I fear the repercussions of informing you of his existence."

Mace frowned, "What is this being you fear to inform us of?"

Qui-Gon gulped, "The Queen's bodyguard. He had been in stasis up until recently when a team of Archaeologists released him."

Ki-Adi-Mundi raised an eyebrow, "And his name?"

"D…Darth Shan, Master." stuttered Qui-Gon.

Pandemonium reigned in the council chambers for a moment before Mace finally managed to achieve silence,

"Are you certain this man is a Sith Lord, Qui-Gon? It is a dangerous claim to make." He asked sceptically,

Qui-Gon nodded, "Yes master, I am certain. Not only is he a Sith Lord but he is a Sith Lord who is far different to anything I have ever heard described."

"Explain." Demanded another Jedi,

"He is not ruled by his passions. He uses the Light Side of the Force as much as he uses the Dark Side. I have felt his aura and he is incredibly Dark and yet he makes an effort to help those who cannot return the gesture. He is also the bodyguard to the Queen."

Several of the council members sat back in shock, "Surely the Queen is not aware of this?"

"Not only is the Queen aware of his title, she is one of his students. She named him a member of the Naboo aristocracy."

Mace frowned again, "Queen Amidala is Force sensitive?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "Along with two of her handmaidens. All three are students of Travien. Queen Amidala's combative abilities have far surpassed even my own." A tremor of shock ran though the council at this statement,

"How can you be sure of this Qui-Gon?" asked Mace Windu, somewhat desperately,

"I have seen the Queen sparring with Travien. Their friendly duel was devastating; I genuinely believed that they would kill on another. I am aware now that the Queen never stood a chance against him. Travien's capabilities are immense."

Mace nodded, "Do you believe he is a threat to the Order?"

Ki-Adi-Mundi broke in, "A threat? He is a Sith Lord! Of course he is a threat!"

"I do not believe so Master, at least not at this time." answered Qui-Gon

Mace's brow furrowed, "What do you mean, not at this time?"

Qui-Gon sighed, hoping that Travien didn't kill him for this, "Lord Shan genuinely appears to be in love with Queen Amidala. If it were not for her then Obi-Wan and myself would already be dead. Her attachment to democracy and the Republic have prevented Travien from even preparing for hostilities until this point. He has told me that unless the Order attacks him, he is content to ignore that we exist for the time being."

"For the time being?" asked Mace,

"Yes master. Travien is almost certain, due to the nature of the dispute between Jedi and Sith that we will come into conflict eventually. Until that point his hatred of the Order is not so great that he will abandon the protection he currently has."

"What protection, has he?" asked Yoda,

"The protection of the law, Master Yoda. Since entering Republic space he has committed no crimes. Should we attack him then we would be breaching the law. He would also call it religious persecution. While we know that would be untrue, the senate would not."

Mace huffed, "So, this Sith will hide behind the Senate while whatever plans he has are allowed to come to fruition."

Qui-Gon nodded and Obi-Wan stepped forward and bowed, "Master's, please forgive my forwardness, but I believe that Lord Shan exists outside of the current Sith hierarchy."

"Why believe this, do you?" asked Yoda, curiously,

Qui-Gon nodded and took over, "Good point padawan. When we questioned Travien we were forced to inform him of the nature of the Sith. When told of the Rule of Two Travien very nearly went into shock. He claims to have ruled an Empire outside of the boundaries of the Republic that housed almost a million Force-Sensitive Sith. He has spoken repeatedly of bringing this other Sith under his control."

"Under his control?" asked Windu,

"Yes, Master Windu. Travien has spoken on one or two occasions to me on the nature of the Sith and…there is a great deal that we do not know. According to Travien he not only exists to rule the Sith but to control them as well. For several reasons he in fact detests the invasion of Naboo."

A female Jedi spoke up in surprise, "And why would he detest such an action?"

"Simply because they cannot fight back. The people of Naboo abhor violence to the extent that they do not even possess a military. To Travien there is nothing to be gained from the oppression of such a people; there is no honour in it."

The Jedi snorted, "And what does a Sith Lord know of honour?" she rhetorically.

Qui-Gon sighed, "With respect masters there is a great deal I do not know or understand about Travien. He is either emotionally unstable or an actor playing many parts, I can only be certain of two things. Firstly is his devotion to Queen Amidala, he is genuinely in love with her. Secondly is his survival of an assassination attempt at the hands of a previous Jedi Council when he survived a conflict with five weapons masters at the same time. I have no doubt that it was within his capabilities."

The council sighed, "You have more to tell us I assume." Said Windu,

"Yes masters. On our way back from Naboo we encountered another Sith. This one appears to have been a conformant of the Rule of Two, an apprentice at most. Travien dealt with him swiftly when he was revealed as a threat to the Queen."

"What did this Travien do, exactly?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi,

Obi-Wan shuddered slightly, "He defeated the Sith before setting up a small makeshift shelter with some water supplies and slashed the muscles at the backs of the Sith's legs. He claimed it to be a learning exercise."

The other Jedi raised eyebrows at that; it was a brutal learning exercise if that was what it was.

"Very well, is there anything else we should know about?" asked Mace wearily,

"Yes master. I believe I have found a vergence in the Force."

Mace almost groaned. Something in the Force told him not to get up today, he should have stayed in bed and he ignored that feeling. What did he get for it? Sith were everywhere and he knew exactly where this was leading,

"A vergence, you say?" asked Yoda. The rest of the Council just stayed quiet, they had had enough shocks for today.

Mace almost sighed, "Located around a person?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "A boy with the second highest midi-chlorian count I have ever seen. It is possible that he was conceived by Midi-Chlorians."

This time Mace did sigh, "You refer to the prophecy of the chosen one. You believe that it is this boy?"

"I do not presume…"

"But you do." Interrupted Yoda, "Revealed your opinion is."

Qui-Gon nodded, aware that he was not going to be hiding much from the council. At least they didn't know about the possible existence of the Star Forge. They would almost certainly attack Travien then,

"I request that he be tested master." He stated calmly,

Yoda nodded slowly, "Trained as a Jedi you wish for the boy, hmm?"

"Finding him was the will of the Force master; I have no doubt of that. It cannot be a co-incidence that the Chosen One is discovered at the same time as the Sith re-emerge into the galaxy."

Mace glanced around the room and spoke silently with the other members of the council in a conversation that Qui-Gon knew not to interfere with. Prophecy was always dangerous, it never happened as it appeared it should. Prophecy led to expectation which led to disappointment. Mace nodded, "You say that the boy is staying with Queen Amidala?"

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, "Yes masters." He had a bad feeling about this.

Mace nodded sharply, "We shall retrieve him for testing ourselves. I believe it would be in our best interests to evaluate this situation for ourselves." Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan cringed. This could not end well.

The Queen and her party were taking some time to relax before the meeting with the Senate. The Handmaidens all stood around the room, their faces hidden by the cowls that they wore. It was an outfit that Travien could approve of, despite the peaceful nature of Naboo it seemed that the outfit almost had Sith origins. Padmé noticed that Senator Palpatine seemed tense but did not fully understand the reasons; she just assumed he was as worried about Naboo as she was. She looked at Travien,

"How can you be so calm about all of this?" she asked irritably,

Travien shrugged, "Meh, I'm used to stressful situations, love. You worry; I'll turn up later and kill something. There's really not much else I can do."

She huffed, "I thought you said that you could feel the people dying?"

He sat up a little straighter, "I can, don't doubt that. I fully meant what I said to Gunray on Naboo and if the little bastard responsible for this tries again then I fully intend to string said bastard up by their genitals after skinning them alive, but right now there is nothing I can do. I am not a politician."

Padmé didn't notice Palpatine flinch slightly at Travien's not very veiled threat. She did however sense her boyfriend's truth through the Force.

She sighed, "I'm sorry, Travien. I know this isn't your fault, I shouldn't take it out on you."

He smiled at her, "its okay. Fourteen is never easy, I know that. Think about it this way. You're fourteen, ruler of a planet and people are trying to kill you. It's something else we have in common."

Padmé giggled for a while and then her eyes snapped to Palpatine in alarm, "Travien, what…"

He waved it off, "Not to worry, love. It seems the good Senator is something of a historian and managed to recognise me, there seem to be a few more records than I had realised."

Palpatine nodded at the generosity that Travien had taken with the truth, "I assure you your majesty, I have no problems with Lord Shan." Padmé sighed in relief. Both politicians looked at Travien as he frowned and sat upright,

Travien turned to the handmaidens, "Sabé, Eirtaé, stay here. Girls, the rest of you should check on the arrangements for the senate meeting." They looked at each other confused as Padmé spoke up,

"Travien, what's wrong?"

"It seems our Jedi friends tattled. Six members of the Council just entered the building. I have no doubt they are headed here. Senator, do you wish to remain here, or would you like to avoid this?"

Palpatine thought for a moment, "I believe I shall remain here. The Jedi have no authority here for now so I have nothing to fear."

Travien nodded as the other handmaidens left the room. Sabé and Eirtaé drew up behind the Queen and Travien relaxed back into the armchair he was on, his elbows on the arm of the chair with his fingertips touching. Without realising that they had the same thought both Padmé and Palpatine found it very easy to imagine him sitting on a throne. Even in an armchair Palpatine found that he did indeed look the part in the clothes that the Handmaidens had procured for him.

They waited patiently for a few minutes until Captain Panaka walked in nervously, "Uh…your majesty, the representatives of the Jedi Council request an audience." He noticed that the group did not tense up any further than they already had and he guessed that they must be expecting the group.

Padmé nodded, "Please show them in, Captain."

He bowed sharply and left. He returned and opened the door, admitting six Jedi Masters and Travien had to admit, he was impressed. They were each rather powerful. One of them seemed to fit the description his parents had given him of master Vandar. That would pose a problem, but none of the others were such a great threat, not with Padmé, Eirtaé and Sabé in the room. He maintained a small smile as the lead Jedi spoke,

"Greetings your majesty, My name is Jedi Master Mace Windu, with me are Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, Master Yoda, Master Adi Gallia, Master Plo Koon and Master Saesee Tiin. We were hoping to discuss something with you."

Padmé nodded, forgoing introductions, "Please have a seat, Master Jedi." She said waving at the seats around the room, causing them to move closer to the room. When they had finished gaping at the display the sat in the offered seats and faced the Queen,

"We have heard disturbing rumours your majesty." Said Mace,

Padmé raised an eyebrow, "May I ask what rumours these are Master Jedi?"

The Cerean Jedi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, broke into the discussion, "That you have been knowingly consorting with a Sith Lord."

Travien sent a message to Padmé, _'Do you want to deal with this or shall I?'_ he asked.

'_You deal with it, I'm not used to commanding Force sensitive's.'_

Travien nodded and turned to the Jedi, "What exactly are you trying to imply when you say 'consorting'?"

"We believe that the Queen is in an inappropriate relationship with a dangerous creature." answered Mundi.

Travien scowled, "I'm no more a _creature_ than you are, Jedi. I'm just more honest about my darker side than you are. As for my relationship with the Queen, how dare you accuse me of anything inappropriate? That the thought came to your mind in the first place truly concerns me. You are aware that the Queen is fourteen years old, are you not?"

The Jedi turned to him, "You claim to be a Sith Lord?" they said amusedly,

Travien smiled and released a portion of his aura to allow the Jedi to see him as a Force sensitive. Yoda nodded,

"A Sith Lord you are, sense no deception from you, do I. What is your purpose here, I must ask."

Travien smiled, "I like you. You sit before someone who may be your enemy and you still remember your manners. Very well, my purpose here is as advertised. I am here to protect the Queen, that's pretty much it."

Mace snorted, "Why should we believe that?"

Travien smiled, "Unless you wish to accuse the head of a Sovereign state of the Republic of committing treason by knowingly associating with someone attempting to work against the best interest of the Republic, Master Jedi?" Mace scowled at him knowing that so long as Travien hid behind the laws of the Republic they could not even approach him without risk. He turned to Padmé,

"Your Majesty, I don't think you are aware of just what this man is capable of?" he said,

Travien raised an eyebrow as Padmé answered, "Travien, how many people were at that battle you spoke of?"

He looked thoughtful, "Not sure. If we say an average of about a thousand people per ship, add ten for the larger ones. Ten thousand ships put it at one hundred thousand. Double that because more than half of those were interdictors which carried about five thousand people, some were Centurions with about thirty thousand. Then you add fighters, I would say there were upwards of three quarters of a million people in space that week."

Padmé nodded, "How many people survived that battle, Travien?"

Here Travien grinned, "Me."

Padmé raised an eyebrow, "Any others?"

He shook his head, "Nope, nobody. That battle lasted six days across five star systems and set light to three planets. Overall casualties were probably in the millions."

Padmé nodded, "Do you feel remorse for their deaths?"

He shrugged, "They challenged me, why should I?" The Jedi looked horrified at this blatant dismissal of the number of Deaths he had caused as Padmé turned to the Jedi Masters,

"I know full well what my boyfriend is capable of. I love him all the same." She said resolutely,

Mace snorted, "Milady, the Sith are incapable of love."

Travien interrupted lightly, "That's actually a common misconception." Everyone turned to him, "The Sith are capable of love, it's simply harder to find the circumstances to maintain love than it is to maintain hate. Sith are about _emotion_ and _power_, quite frankly we don't give a damn which ones. Dad for instance preferred military power while I prefer to harness my power within the Force as my mother did. My adoptive grandmother Traya preferred the power of manipulation. There are all different kinds of power."

Yoda was intrigued, "And love? What have you to say of love?"

Travien sat considering for a moment, "Falling in love is never easy, especially for a Sith. Essentially you are making someone else your equal. There can never be a true Master and Apprentice relationship between two Sith in love. It is dangerous but also very rewarding. Apart from the obvious rewards of being in love, it is rare for any Sith to have one person that they can trust unequivocally, one person who you would never betray."

Yoda nodded slowly, "Much to learn from each other, have we."

Travien shook his head, "It sounds like a nice idea but it isn't. Jedi aren't trained to handle the emotional backlash of using the dark side and Sith cannot handle all that compassion and mercy you lot keep on about. We are not, as most think, two sides of the same coin."

Mace sighed, "So what are we to do. You know that we cannot allow you to operate within Republic boundaries. You cannot be trusted."

Travien raised an eyebrow, "Unless you have some legal power to exile me then you have a problem. I have only seen three planets since I first entered the Republic. They were Naboo, Coruscant and Tatooine. I have committed no crimes here, despite an unwarranted assassination attempt from your order before my…exile. How exactly do you intend to prevent me operating within Republic borders?"

Mace glared at him, "The Chancellor will understand the threat you pose to the Republic and agree with our decision."

Travien snorted, "Even if he did, the Chancellor would have to take such a decision before the Senate and declare me a Sith Lord. Go ahead; I have nothing to hide in that regard. But you're gonna be awful embarrassed when I point out that the Chancellor's representative's, two Jedi might I add, precipitated the invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation. Your guys jumped the gun; I'm here trying to clear up your mess. The Senate is hardly likely to look favourably upon that. Many of them think you have too much power anyway."

Mace was beginning to get irritated by this Sith, and he was clearly a Sith much to the collective dismay of the Jedi. He was entirely correct that they could not cause him any harm but the fact that he dismissed them so easily was wrong, they were the most powerful members of the Jedi Order and they deserved respect. The blatant disrespect that was coming from the younger man was infuriating for Mace.

"Then perhaps you would be willing to answer some questions." He ground out.

Travien shrugged, "Some, maybe. Ask and we'll see."

Mace nodded, "Where did you come from?"

"Naboo." was the short reply,

"I mean where were you born?"

Travien smiled, "I was born on the Star Forge."

"How old are you?" asked Mace.

For some reason Travien tried to edge away, "Is there a reason that these questions happen to be the same ones my mother asked my father just before they got together, because I really do not swing that way, I can tell you."

Padmé and the handmaidens stifled a giggle while they watched the Jedi's eye begin to twitch. Palpatine thought briefly just how much fun it would be to be in Travien's position needling the Jedi. He cursed the secrecy imposed by Bane's legacy.

Travien sighed, "Okay, let's get right down to it. You came here looking for a fight; you wanted to get rid of me because I'm a threat to you. I'm another option and you don't like that. You can't imagine how much I don't care. You thought that you could plant a wedge between us," he waved to Padmé and the handmaidens, "By telling them the truth, unfortunately for you I got there first. You thought that a Sith knows nothing but hatred and sews deceit everywhere but you were wrong." Travien's face turned cold and Palpatine recognised the expression, "I do not take kindly to your interference here Jedi. Again I have tried to enter this society and done nothing wrong and again you have tried to cast me out for the perceived crimes of my parents. I truly begin to wonder who the _dark_ one is here. I'm just pissed off."

Padmé glared at the Jedi as well, "I am deeply unimpressed by this. I had hoped that Travien's distaste for the Order was simply a bad experience coloured by the beliefs of his parents, now I know that I was wrong. We have nothing more to say to one another master Jedi. Please leave immediately." Mace nodded awkwardly and left with the Jedi following him. Travien smirked inwardly. It would seem that the Jedi had begun trying to destabilize him and failed.

He looked to Padmé, "Are you okay?" he asked.

Padmé nodded, "I'm fine. Let's go we have to be at the senate meeting soon." He smiled and acquiesced to her request, the group of them leaving the senators apartment and heading for the Senate hall. It took them little time to get there as they used the same transport as they had from the landing platform. Palpatine leaned over to Travien,

"What if the Trade Federation delegates announce you to be a Sith Lord?"

Travien grinned, "Then I'd like to know how they can tell."

Palpatine smirked, "If they say that you admitted to it?"

Travien shrugged, "Hearsay and slander. I am a landed member of the Naboo nobility; it would be an attempt to attack the character of a witness to their invasion."

Palpatine frowned, "How did you become a member of the Aristocracy, that much land would have been noticed if it had been purchased."

Travien smirked this time, "The house that Padmé grew up in was one that I built so I have property on Naboo, but Padmé decided that the Star Forge was more than enough to make the decision. It is several times bigger than Naboo."

Palpatine's eyes widened, "The Forge still exists?" he asked breathlessly,

"Exists Senator? It is active." said Travien gleefully as he sat back. He had no intention of telling Palpatine that the only thing that the Forge was building was construction and agricultural droids and materials to help with the recovery of Naboo after the Trade Federation left. Let the pretender suffer for a while. They soon landed in the Senate hall and began walking to the Rotunda where the meeting would take place. Travien walked behind Padmé calmly. Only the handmaidens and the Queen knew that he was using the Force to scan the entire area for any potential threat. Well, any _other_ potential threat. They reached the pod that was designated for the Chommel sector they all sat down and waited for the session to start.

Travien heard them begin to speak and decided to pay attention as Palpatine opened with his speech,

"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate. A tragedy has occurred which started right here with the taxation of trade routes and has engulfed our entire planet in the oppression of the trade federation!"

Another pod flew into the arena, startling Travien, "We object! There is no proof!" cried a Nemoidian. Travien glared at the Nemoidian as Chancellor Valorum spoke up, "The chair does not recognise the delegates from the Trade Federation at this time."

Palpatine smiled, "We are fortunate, to state our allegations, Queen Amidala of the Naboo."

Padmé stood up and Travien failed to suppress a grin. She may be fourteen years old but she looked equally as powerful as any of the representatives there and one thing a Sith is attracted to is power.

"Supreme Chancellor, honourable representatives of the Senate. We come to you now under the gravest of circumstances. Naboo has been invaded by the armies of the Trade Federation."

The Trade Federation senator could not remain quiet, "We demand evidence!" the Nemoidian cried out, "We demand that a commission be appointed to ascertain the validity of these claims!"

Another pod flew up to the Chancellor's podium, "The congregation of Malastare agrees, let a commission be appointed."

Padmé and Travien watched as the two aides' beside the Chancellor began speaking in hushed whispers. Palpatine leaned forward between them, "Enter the Bureaucrats, the true power behind the Republic and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Valorum's strength will crumble."

Padmé and Travien watched and waited but Travien could already see and hear what was going to happen as Valorum stood up, "The point is conceded, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your claims?"

Padmé and Travien were both incensed and Padmé drew herself up, "I will not defer! I was not elected Queen to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion as a committee!" Travien stood up and placed an arm on Padmé's shoulder. She looked at him curiously,

'_I'm not sure how much I can do, but I have one last trick up my sleeve, love'_

Padmé nodded, "I yield the floor, to Baron Travien Shan of Naboo." Palpatine and the others blinked.

Travien bowed slightly, "Ladies and Gentlemen, and of course those who conform to neither denomination, I wish my first visit to such a place as this were under better circumstances. I anticipated the reluctance and deceit of the Trade Federation, therefore I brought with a recording of the last message sent from Naboo." He pulled a circular object from his hand that extended almost an inch beyond his palm in every direction, "The speaker is Sio Bibble, governor of Theed," Travien activated the hologram,

A blue hologram representing Sio Bibble emerged from the disk,

"The death toll is catastrophic, we must bow to their wishes; you must contact me."

Travien de-activated the disk and placed it back in his pocket,

"That is at least evidence that our claims have validity. If you require more then I ask you to attempt to contact a member of the Naboo populace who is not highly placed in government. Before the representatives of this Senate assisted in our escape, Nute Gunray instructed that the Queen was to be taken to a concentration camp."

The trade federation delegate jumped up, "There is no proof of that! It is slander! We hold to the truth of our claims!"

Travien looked to Padmé who nodded sadly and Travien turned back to the Senate, "I find myself unsurprised. I came here with the intent to do the right thing, but it is clear to me now that I must choose the lesser of two evils. If this body is incapable of performing the actions to which it is sworn then a new body is needed." Travien backed away from the podium as Padmé took her place back,

"I call for a vote of no-confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership." She intoned.

The senators and other delegates began calling for a vote immediately and Travien looked absolutely furious. The Naboo pod came to a halt as it docked with the edge of the Rotunda and Travien looked at Padmé and used the Force to push the microphone on,

"Let's get out of here, shall we? I'm sorry, love. We tried our best. Father was right, the Republic just doesn't work."

Padmé nodded sadly and took the hand he extended. Travien lead them out of the room as Palpatine sat stunned. That was a powerful image, the Baron leading the near defeated Queen from the Senate after an attempt to help her people. Palpatine smiled when he noticed the microphone switch on. Travien's last words had just been blasted throughout the entire Rotunda and many of the senators were looking on in shock. He switched to the microphone off and followed them out of the Senate hall; he was certainly not going to nominate anyone else to post of Supreme Chancellor. Palpatine stopped behind them as Travien help Padmé into the shuttle and turned to him,

"You do not want me to find out that you caused this situation, understood?" he said. Normally Palpatine would have bristled, his inner Sith Lord refusing to take such treatment, but the pure rage in his voice caused the Senator to remain silent. He simply nodded, now was not the time to challenge Travien.


	14. Chapter 14

Several hours later they were stood in the Senator's apartment, waiting for Palpatine to return with the news on who had been elected Chancellor. Travien watched Padmé pace up and down the room as she agonised over what was happening. He knew that he had a decision to make and it was not on that he enjoyed making but there was no other option, He would tell Padmé everything as soon as they were away from Coruscant. There were other matters he had to attend to as well though.

Padmé walked up to one of the large windows and looked out over Coruscant and the setting sun in the sky. It killed Travien to see her this remorseful especially when there was nothing that he could have done about it. He watched Jar Jar walk up to her,

"Yousa thinkin' yousa people gonna die?" he asked,

She shook her head forlornly, "I don't know." She said.

"Gungans get pated too, huh?" he asked sadly. Travien's mood just kept plummeting as he heard her reply,

"I hope not."

"Gungans not goin' without a fight. Weesa warriors, weesa having grand army. That's why you no likin' us meesa thinks."

Travien's eye shot up to look at the Gungan and Padmé turned to him, "An army? Now an army I can work with." He said. Padmé nodded and Travien could see hope coming back into her eyes. He would have to make some sacrifices but it would be worth it.

They were just about to continue speaking when Captain Panaka spoke up, "Your highness." He called breathlessly as he ran in, "Your highness. Senator Palpatine has been nominated to succeed Valorum as Supreme Chancellor." He said grinning. This infuriated Travien who remained silent,

"A surprise but a welcome one to be sure." He saw that the Queen was not interested, "Your Majesty, if elected I promise to put an end to corruption." Travien butted in,

"Save the campaign speeches, Senator. How does this help Naboo?" he demanded. Palpatine stuttered for a moment, quickly getting irritated with the way this young man kept changing the playing field. Padmé cut over their argument,

"Who else has been nominated?" she asked Panaka.

Bail Antilles of Alderaan and Ainlee Teem of Malastare." He replied,

"I feel confident that our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us. I will be Chancellor your majesty."

Travien almost snarled as Padmé spoke to Palpatine, "I fear by the time you have controlled the Bureaucrats that there will be nothing left of our people and our way of life."

"I understand your concern your majesty, but what can we do. The Trade Federation is currently in possession of our planet."

Padmé replied slowly, "Senator, this is your arena; I feel I must return to mine. We are going back to Naboo."

"G…Go back. Your majesty, be realistic, they will force you to sign the treaty!"

Travien butted in, "There is no treaty. It will not be signed." They all turned to him and saw a vicious grin on his face, "Captain, you heard the Queen, please inform our pilots that we will be leaving as soon as possible." Panaka nodded reluctantly and left the room. Padmé smiled at him,

"I assume that you are already planning something." She said playfully,

Travien nodded, "I don't have nearly as much time as I would like but I do have some plans." She nodded,

"Very well, let us leave." They heard Palpatine calling out behind them but ignored him as they left.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn stood before the Jedi Council for the second time in as many days. In this case Qui-Gon was nervous. He knew that this would be where the council decided the fate of Anakin. It was hard enough the they had not allowed Shmi to be present for this as she was still living on the Queen's cruiser. Mace just looked resigned,

"The Force is strong with him," said Mundi,

"He is to be trained then?" asked Qui-Gon

"No, he will not be trained." Said Mace with finality,

"No? But surely you can sense it, he is the Chosen One." Claimed Qui-Gon almost desperately,

Mace shook his head, "He is too old."

Yoda nodded, "Clouded this boy's future is."

Qui-Gon huffed, "Very well, then I take Anakin as my Padawan learner."

Mundi raised an eyebrow, "You already have a padawan, it impossible to take two."

Mace nodded, "The Code forbids it."

Qui-Gon shrugged, "Obi-Wan is ready to take the trials. He is headstrong and has much to learn of the living force but there is little more he can learn from me."

"I am ready Masters." Interrupted Obi-Wan.

"Our own Council we will keep on who is ready, padawan."

Anakin just nodded, "That's alright Master Qui-Gon. Travien said he would train me if the council refused anyway." They all stared at the boy and suddenly Qui-Gon understood the sheer brilliance of Travien's plan, he had endeared himself to the boy and rather actually fight the Jedi for him he relied on the Jedi to push Anakin to him of their own accord. He knew that the council had been set up from the instant that Anakin had been freed.

Yoda nodded as if he too realised what had happened, "Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later."

Mace leaned forward, "Now is not the time for this. The Senate is electing a new Chancellor, Queen Amidala is returning to Naboo and we have at least two Sith Lords running around unchecked. Her returning to Naboo will put pressure on the Trade Federation and could cause the situation to escalate."

Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded, "And draw out the Queen's attacker." He continued,

Mace agreed, "You will go with the Queen to Naboo and see if you can discover the entity of this supposed Sith. This may be what we need to deal with the Sith."

Yoda nodded his agreement, "May the Force be with you."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan knew that they were dismissed and bowed, "May the Force be with you, Masters."

Travien saw Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon approach the landing pad with Anakin, who was conspicuously not wearing Jedi robes. Travien fought hard not to grin and then remembered exactly what he was planning. That wiped the grin off of his face quite easily as he walked up to the two, interrupting the Jedi's argument,

"Do I assume then that the council has once again proven their collective stupidity?" he asked Qui-Gon,

Obi-Wan bristled indignantly but Qui-Gon cut him off, "You knew what they were going to do." He stated flatly, "Did you have a vision?"

Travien smiled slightly, "Master Jinn, when a man insists upon shoving his head up his arse, I don't need a vision to tell you that he will wear his hair as a hat. I knew what they would do because they are the Jedi Council. They're nothing if not predictable." He stated happily,

Qui-Gon nodded resignedly, "What will you do?"

Travien shrugged, "I'll teach Anakin the basics, touching the Force and meditating, or I'll get the handmaidens to do it. Either way, he'll need it."

Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes, "What are you planning?" he asked.

Travien huffed, "Don't ask and I'll not lie to you." They nodded and Obi-Wan proceeded onboard. Anakin waited with Qui-Gon and Travien,

"I don't want to be any trouble Qui-Gon, sir." Qui-Gon kneeled in front of Anakin and smiled,

"You will not be any trouble Anakin. I am not allowed to teach you, but I want you to watch very carefully, understand?" Anakin nodded and Travien spoke up,

"Listen kid, I can't teach you anything, if I do it could ruin your chances of being a Jedi. What I will do is ask one of the Handmaidens to give you a basic introduction to the Force, okay?" Anakin nodded enthusiastically. "Good, go on into the ship then." Qui-Gon and Travien watched him go.

Qui-Gon looked at Travien, "Why do I get the feeling that you are doing something you shouldn't be doing?"

Travien shrugged, "You're probably right. Padmé's likely going to tear me apart before we get to Naboo but I really have no choice in this, not if I want her to survive."

Qui-Gon frowned, "What do you mean, survive?"

Travien snorted, "You can see what is happening here. This attack isn't just against Naboo. A good portion of the Sith's efforts have gone into attacking Padmé directly. This attack will fail and ego will demand that they try again eventually." He sighed, "I will not allow her to die before her natural time, Jedi. The galaxy be damned I will not let them hurt her."

Qui-Gon nodded, "You do actually love her. Everything I was ever taught say it's impossible but you have fallen in love, haven't you?"

Travien nodded and smirked, "Yes, I have."

"What of the will of the Force?" questioned Qui-Gon

Travien shrugged, "If the Force wants her to die then it can kill me first. Beyond that, remember you're a Jedi and you serve the Force, I'm a Sith and I serve…well I serve me and Padmé. Now let's get onboard before they leave without us." Qui-Gon nodded and they went up the boarding ramp, followed by R2 and Jar Jar.

As they entered the ship Travien turned to Qui-Gon, "Do me a favour, will you?" Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "Keep Padmé busy and in the throne room until I arrive." Qui-Gon nodded,

"I will try."

Travien nodded as the ramp closed behind them and walked to the cockpit,

"Hi Ric, got something I need your help with."

Ric Ollie frowned, "What's that, sir?"

He programmed a set of co-ordinates into the navi-computer, "I need you to take us to these co-ordinates before heading back to Naboo."

Ric shook his head, "I need to know why first sir, I have orders from the Queen."

"Shit!" swore Travien, "Look, you know we're going back to Naboo, right?" the pilot nodded, "Good. We are going to need a lot more firepower and help than we have with us. Even if the Queen manages to recruit help on the planet I need more people covering her back than we currently have. I have a supply base at those co-ordinates; it's one I've been preparing or a while."

Ric frowned again, "Are you saying that you knew this invasion was coming?"

Travien shook his head, "No, Ric but it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. I need you to lock the navi-computer once we're on our way, the Jedi certainly aren't going to be happy with our destination."

Ric nodded, "Alright, you've never led us wrong before, so I'll trust you. You can explain this to the Queen."

Travien nodded, "On my way there now, just give me time for one transmission before we jump to hyperspace, okay?" Ric nodded and Travien left the room, heading towards the communications room.

Travien walked over to the long range communicator and typed in the appropriate frequencies, channels and passwords when a familiar body appeared in the holocam,

"Statement: Greetings Travien. Are you well?"

Travien smiled, "That I am, brother. I need you to prepare for my arrival by de-activating the field. Can you do that?" he asked.

"Condescending statement: Easily little brother, surely there is something else that you require?" he asked,

Travien nodded, "Yeah, there is. I need you to start production. We'll arrive at your position in twenty four hours, I need as many HK-51 droids, fully armed and armoured, as you can produce in that time. I sent the schematics for what I need in my last transmission earlier today. I need them to be ready for the possibility of large scale combat. I also need as many small arms as you can rustle up."

"Statement: You make it sound as if you are going to war, little brother."

Travien snorted, "No, brother, just a skirmish. We're fighting the droid army of the Trade Federation. It has a droid control ship, you know what that means."

The droid nodded, "Disappointed statement: The battle droids are all linked together with no real intelligence."

Travien nodded, "Yep, now I have to justify myself to the love of my life little brother, I'll see you tomorrow. Wish me luck."

"Reassuring Statement: Good Luck little brother." The signal cut and Travien chuckled quietly to himself, "I'd love to know where he picked up reassurances from."

"So would I, better yet I would love to know what the hell you think you're doing?" said the angry voice of Padmé from behind him and he felt the jump of the ship going into Hyperspace. He gulped,

"I don't suppose you'll be willing to let me explain in private, will you?"

Padmé nodded, glaring at him angrily, "My quarters, now." She said icily.

Travien nodded solemnly and walked to her quarters, Padmé trailing angrily behind him. They entered her quarters and the door hissed shut. She had apparently taken the time to remove the make-up and apparel as she was dressed as a handmaiden,

"What the hell is going on?" she hissed.

Travien looked at her far more calmly than he felt, "Where would you like me to begin?"

Padmé considered for a moment, "Coruscant, what happened on Coruscant. You were distracted and political. You're only like that when you need to manipulate someone, and I think that the someone you needed to manipulate was me!" she hissed,

Travien nodded and waved for her to sit down, "You're right, but hear my point of view first, okay?" She nodded slowly, still angry with him, "Valorum wasn't doing any good. If the Trade federation could get away with invading a planet then he was useless as a leader, which is the only reason I consented to this plan. Valorum needed to go. I tried to prevent this by presenting the evidence but there was only so much I could do without preparation and on a foreign battlefield."

Padmé nodded, "I agree, but why is this a problem? I was the one who called for the vote."

Travien took a deep breath, "The man most likely to replace him believes himself to be the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Padmé snorted, "The Dark Lord, but the only person you spoke to was…no, no I will not believe that. I will not accept that the man Naboo has trusted to represent them would do that to us!" she spat.

Travien shrugged, "Padmé, I give you free access to my mind for a reason. By and large Sith are not to be trusted, it is dangerous. I have no intention of betraying you, which is why you are free to poke around so long as it isn't presents that you're looking for. I have no physical proof. I spent most of my time there guaranteeing your safety. I didn't want to let him assume control of the Republic but it was better than the alternative."

Padmé just glared at him, "What was the alternative?"

"I saw two possible options. One is where we accepted the commission and Naboo and our way of life was destroyed before we could be vindicated and our people saved. The second was that we were punished for attempting to re-take the planet. I know that Sidious will not allow either of those to happen."

Padmé huffed angrily, "So to keep the Republic intact you've handed it over to a Sith Lord?!"

Travien nodded calmly, "A Sith Lord who is more than aware that he is still alive because he is useful to me, a man who knows that his threat against you has put him on very thin ice." He started to get slightly irritable, "Look, you wanted to be neutral, fine. I accept that and I am happy with it, but you have to understand that Sith like him do not conform to your idea of civilized. He wants one thing, to rule the galaxy, okay. I want that too but I want you by my side when I do that so I'm willing to compromise, okay?"

Padmé sighed, "Fine, so Palpatine is in fact Darth Sidious, why didn't you do anything about him?"

Travien shrugged, "Anyone else and I would have but Palpatine has the same protections as I do. He's done nothing that is traceably wrong. The Senate will not understand what it means that he is a Sith Lord, what they will see is that one Force sensitive murdered another and hand me over to the Jedi. Then I'm dead and can no longer help anyone."

Padmé sighed, "Just…just keep an eye on him, alright? I don't want to have to go through with your plans of building an Empire."

Travien nodded, "I have quite a few plans actually that are going to need a lot of work. Even if I don't end up building an Empire I'm going to be busy. I think you'll appreciate it."

She nodded, "Fine, now about that holo-transmission. Where exactly are we headed and how, I gave Captain Ollie strict orders." She demanded,

"And I explained to Captain Ollie that you were headed into enemy territory with few guards and even fewer effective weapons. We are currently on our way to pick up some more."

"Where from?" asked Padmé with a hint of steel in her voice,

Travien grinned, "We are headed to the Star Forge."

Padmé frowned, "The Forge isn't active, is it?"

Travien nodded, "I sent the activation codes when we landed on Coruscant. I had the Forge building construction droids for when we remove the Trade Federation, there is bound to be damage after all."

Padmé smiled, "Thank you. What are you building to help us?"

"Mostly small arms, but as many battle droids as we can carry. They're far superior to the Trade Federation battle droids." He answered,

"How do you know that?" asked Padmé,

"Simple," answered the young Sith, "They're designed to be assassin droids." Padmé gaped at him for a second before shaking her head,

"I don't like that you went over my authority to do this." She said,

Travien shrugged, "My job is to protect you by any means necessary. If that means I occasionally have to piss you off then so be it. I prefer to think that I'm doing something right if you're still alive though." She nodded and they began meditating rather than get into anything else. They knew they would have to sleep soon and after that would be the Star Forge, so they didn't really have time for anything. Travien thought briefly about getting the Handmaidens to begin Anakin's training but decided the last thing he needed was to open himself up to the Force and then wind up in the Forge.


	15. Chapter 15

Twenty four hours later Padmé and Travien were curled into each other on her bed. The last few days had been trying for them and they needed the extra sleep after Travien had joined Padmé in her meditation. He had actually found the whole process to be rather relaxing and wondered, not for the first time, if Padmé was in fact corrupting him and turning him a dark grey instead of the just plain dark that he had been most of his life. He wasn't comfortable with being different; he knew that his personality was wildly fluctuating lately. He had entered that stasis pod as an unmitigated bastard with few or no redeeming features whatsoever. Now he was on a ship with _Jedi_, who were still alive, working with a fourteen year old girl to save a planet full of pacifists. This was not the work of a dark sided conqueror who wanted to rule the galaxy. What really concerned him was that he didn't care. He had Padmé so the galaxy could wait, not to mention his willingness to share power. He shook his head as he woke up, trying to ignore the twinges in his limbs where he had slept awkwardly. A knock at the door caught his attention and he reached out with the Force to find out who it was. Unfortunately it was Captain Panaka so there would be no telepathic communication.

He carefully untangled himself from Padmé and walked over to the door, careful to block her half naked form from view. He triggered the door causing it to open and was stood directly in front of a scowling Panaka,

"Captain Ollie has asked me to inform you that we are about to drop out of hyperspace. He said that you will need to be there."

Travien nodded, "Ah, thank you Captain. I'll wake her majesty and we will be with you soon, okay?" he said. Panaka nodded and walked away without trying to get a better look inside the room. Travien shut the door and grinned, they would be there soon and he could see his brother. Okay, having a droid for a brother was an unusual quirk in a family but considering some of the 'quirks' that other Sith Lords had Travien felt he was getting off light. Besides, they were both Revan's children, technically. He snickered to himself, or should that be technologically?

Travien shook his head free of thoughts and moved over to where Padmé was lying on the bed. He sat down beside her and kissed her forehead,

"Wake up sweetheart." He whispered, "It's time to go." Padmé rolled over and groaned for a second before placing a pillow over her head. Travien just laughed and removed the pillow, "We're here, sweetheart. You get to see my home away from home in its full glory." He said happily. Padmé opened her eyes and looked at him,

"I hate waking up." She mumbled,

"Don't we all," laughed Travien, "Come on, it's not everyday that you get to see a thirty thousand year old space station wake up, that's got to be worth it, right?" Padmé nodded slightly and got up from the bed. She staggered over to the wardrobe and began putting on some clothes, mostly similar to the robes that the Handmaidens wore. Travien was wearing something that he had gotten the Handmaidens to make secretly for him; it was a set of pure black Jedi robes, more commonly referred to as Sith robes. They walked out of the room and headed to the cockpit where the Jedi were already waiting for them.

Qui-Gon bowed, "Your majesty. I was unaware that we were taking a detour. I thought that we were several days away from Naboo." He stated, puzzled.

Padmé glared at Travien briefly who stood behind the Captain with an unconcerned expression on his face.

"As was I, Master Jedi. Travien has decided that we are ill equipped for our current venture and saw fit to divert our course." She said with a slight bite to her tone. Travien remained stationary, although there was a slight smile on his face as Ric looked up, "We're about to drop out of Hyperspace."

Travien nodded and turned to the Jedi and Padmé, "Brace yourselves." They looked at him confused until they saw the blue of Hyperspace fade into real space and felt the Dark Side of the Force wash over them. Travien took a deep breath and turned back to Ric,

"You see the star?" he pointed to the star,

Ric nodded nervously, "Yeah, I see it? Where do you want me to head?"

"When we get closer to the star you'll see what looks like a controlled solar flare, head towards it, our destination will become more apparent."

Captain Ollie nodded and made the necessary adjustments, "I thought it was just Jedi who did the mystical thing." He said cheekily.

Travien grinned, "I'm just maintaining the suspense. You'll see it soon enough though."

They had been flying for a few minutes towards the star as Anakin and the two Force-Sensitive handmaidens rushed in followed by Shmi,

"What is that?!" asked Sabé.

The others looked to a smiling Travien who opened his mouth but was interrupted by a cry from Ric Ollie,

"By the Gods! Is that a space station?!" he cried. Travien turned to the window to see that the Forge was coming into view. The Force was getting darker as it was wont to do around his home. He just grinned and embraced it, taking deep breaths,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my home away from home." Everyone turned their attention to him as his blind eyes gleamed, "Welcome to the Star Forge." He said dramatically. He leaned over and activated the short range communications,

"Are you there, brother?" he asked,

The others waited patiently until another voice came out of the speakers. It was one that sounded distinctly mechanical,

"Statement: Yes little brother, I am here. You are seven minutes and fifteen seconds late."

Travien grinned, "This ship was designed for luxury, not speed. I'll build a better one at another time. Can you direct us to the nearest hangar bay, I have no intention of running a marathon to get to you."

Ric looked up, "We're receiving co-ordinates." He looked out of the window at the looming pace station, "How big is that thing?" he whispered,

Travien smiled, "Almost three times the size of Naboo. Every single part of it serves a purpose."

The others looked at it in awe and Travien grinned, this was his birthplace, where he had grown up, this was his home. He smiled at the others, "Come on, we'll be landing in a moment or two, let's get to the loading bay."

They nodded and moved away, following Travien as he sauntered through the ship. The Jedi were looking remarkably pale as the ship drew closer to the Star Forge and they looked genuinely sick as they entered the hangar. The Dark Side was strong on the Forge, Travien admitted that, but he wasn't feeling any different. They felt the thump of the ship landing and the ramp began to lower. Travien led them out once the ramp was down and walked out of the ship quickly,

"Come on, we have little time." He said to the others who followed him, albeit reluctantly,

Travien walked out of the hangar and through the corridors of the Forge while the others looked around. The entire station seemed dark, as in there was little light, until they reach a central ring of corridors that had wide open windows leading to a huge central column. Padmé watched as Travien placed his hand sadly on the window,

"When I was a kid, about six or seven, I would come here to watch the ships go by. You could see hundreds of ships be they fighters, transports or warships, all being built here. Every single one of them _gleamed_. Not one would go to waste; they all had a purpose and a reason. It was an incredible sight to watch. This was where they built the Infinite Fleets." He said wistfully. Travien shook his head, "Anyway, enough sentimentality, we're here for a reason." Padmé walked up to him and wrapped his arm around her waist as she leaned in to him. Travien smiled and led them to an elevator. After taking a series of elevators they finally came to a large observation room. The large windows allowed for a beautiful view of the surrounding system and planets. The new arrivals noticed a tall red droid standing there apparently waiting for them. They shivered as the droid turned to them and displayed gleaming red eyes.

"Statement: Greetings Lord Shan. Are you ready to begin your conquest?" it asked with what sounded like anticipation in its voice.

Travien shook his head, "Not yet HK. I have several things I need done first. How much progress have you made?"

The glow from the red eyes diminished in apparent disappointment, "Bored statement: There are several hundred of the construction droids that you ordered waiting for orders along with the agricultural droids. I have had the station working at prime capacity and you are now in possession of two hundred HK-51 assassin droids, Master. I took the liberty of updating their programming with both assassination and combat protocols."

Travien chuckled, "Fantastic work HK, slight problem. We don't have room for two hundred droids." He thought for a moment, "Okay, here's what we'll do. The guards can raid the armoury and take whatever will fit into the ship along with twenty of the HK-51 droids. HK here can work with the remainder to optimize them. I have plans for them. Other than that, I need the construction droids that have already been built, along with the agricultural droids to head to Rakata Prime and see what land can be developed. Have them level whatever they need to other than the Temple, I want that repaired." He said thoughtfully.

Travien nodded, "Can you have two of the other droids come up here?"

HK-47 nodded and moved over to a console. It had not been there originally but Travien had installed a lot of changes once the war had ended for when he would return, renovating the Forge had been one of them. The droid turned back to Travien as two dark black droids that were clearly HK models walked in,

"Droids," both Assassin droids looked up at him, "Take my guests to the armoury to find whatever they need. Make sure they have access to all levels of small arms and armour. I expect them to come to no harm, including the Jedi." The silvery droids nodded and turned to the others,

"Statement: Please follow us, guests of the Master." With that the droids led the main group away, leaving only Padmé and Travien with HK-47,

"Anticipatory Statement: Is there something else you require master?" asked HK-47,

Travien nodded, "The Trade Federation currently possesses superior numbers to us but my primary concern is currently Naboo. I need you to begin building military vessels and droids. Use the HK-51 designs, re-label them BD-01's and have them function as battle droids. We can use the old sentinel droids for guard duty but an HK model is an obviously superior design. By the end of the month I need a force capable of defending a planet against superior numbers. Hook up to the database onboard the royal cruiser, which will show you what is needed. I've updated the schematics of the Interdictor, the Centurion and the interceptor. Modern technology combined with Rakatan technology should give us a major advantage over the Nemoidians."

HK nodded, "Pleased Statement: You seem to have thought this out well Master."

Travien shook his head, "We're not conquering the Republic yet HK. Not until they give us a reason. I gave my word that I would wait. What I want you to do is locate world that can be used for natural resources like farming. Find planets that are uninhabited, to far from the Core Worlds to be of interest to the Republic. Fortify them and begin working to make them useful. From there I have my own plans but that is what I need you to do."

HK jut stood there "Reluctant agreement: As you wish master." Padmé couldn't believe it but the droid actually managed to sigh,

"I have one more job for you, one I think you will enjoy." HK perked up, "I made a promise to a Nemoidian before I left Naboo. I assume you know what a seismic charge is?" asked Travien. HK-47 nodded slowly, "Good. Take three to Cato Nemoidia and dispose of them suitably; I understand that the population is densely packed which should provide you ample choice in distributing them in a politically appropriate manner. I know your programming and I'm giving you free reign. There is only one Caveat. You. Must. Not. Be. Seen."

Even without moving facial features Padmé could see the droid grin and was horrified at what she was listening to,

"Joyous Statement: Oh thank you Master. I look forward to…"

Travien cut him off, "I do not need to know HK. I am ordering you to perform a standard disposal of semi-mass destructive weaponry. I leave the method to your discretion; kindly do not inform me of what you are planning. Please attempt to wait until I and Padmé are highly visible to the public."

Padmé just tugged on his arm, "Travien, you can't be serious! You're talking about mass murder!" she cried,

He shook his head, "No, I'm not. I'm talking about weapon's disposal. HK is sentient; Padmé and I have left this task in his hands. Whatever happens from this point on is none of my business." He said calmly. Padmé just gaped at him for a moment. This was not the man that she had fallen in love with. She had to do something.

Travien spoke up, "HK, head to the armoury. The Naboo guards aren't used to heavy armour so show them to the crates that father's soldiers used to use. See if you can find the red elite armour, it won't show up like a beacon in the sun. I need to have a private word with Padmé for a moment."

"Wary Statement: As you wish Master. I will return when you summon me." He said and the droid left swiftly. Traven walked up the stairs and looked out of the windows to the Rakatan system.

"Go on, you're itching to say something." He said calmly,

"What are you doing?!" she cried, "Advocating mass murder, building armies? I thought you made me a promise?! Did that mean nothing to you?!" she shouted.

Travien sighed, "Let's get rid of the first misconception. Yes, I'm building an army. Do you want to know why?" Padmé nodded slowly, "Alright, I'll tell you. In this galaxy there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people. These people struggle to get food, jobs even shelter. They often have families."

Padmé shook her head, "What does this have to do with your army?"

Travien smiled, "I intend to give these people food, shelter and jobs. I will build schools so that they can educate their children. I intend to find worlds that the Republic isn't interested in, worlds like Manaan and Korriban and Dantooine. I intend to breathe life into those worlds, to settle people there, giving them things to do and to work for. The reason for the army is to protect those worlds from groups like the Trade Federation and pirates. There are hundreds of worlds out there like Tatooine that could benefit from that, worlds that don't have the protection of the Republic."

Padmé nodded slowly, "Fine, so the army you can explain. I don't like it but even I can see the reason for that. What about Cato Nemoidia? What about the lives that will be lost there?"

Travien sighed and leaned against the railing, his back to the windows, "Before I met you I had absolutely no redeeming features, do you know that? I was a Sith Lord in every sense of the term. I trusted no-one and I gave no-one any form of power over me. Six months ago mercy and compassion were completely foreign concepts to me. Six months ago I would have killed that slaver on Tatooine instantly and taken what I needed." He looked at Padmé, "Then five months ago I met you. They say power is an aphrodisiac, well it's true." Padmé started to tear up and draw away, "No, let me finish, I know you're drawing the wrong conclusions." She nodded, "Well I was attracted to you. You sat there, you were younger than me but the support your people gave you would have had them raising an army if you mumbled the suggestion in your sleep. I saw in you everything that I wasn't. You were powerful, loved and popular." He sighed, "Then I got to know you. You are powerful, loved and popular still but that is no longer important to me."

"You're changing me. I would never have held back my anger before this, now I'm actually letting go of it. For the first time in my life I don't feel rage at something, it's an incredible feeling. And then I did something that I never thought I would be able to do. I fell in love. I'm no longer interested in ruling the galaxy for the sake of ruling the galaxy. If I am to come to power I want to do so in order to transform it into your idea of the prefect galaxy. I think I am becoming the Sith that my parent's always wanted me to be."

He nodded to himself, "But you want to know, why Cato Nemoidia. I want justice for Naboo. I know that Gunray will buy his way out of trouble. There will be no punishment, no justice for the people who are at this moment dying because of that slime's greed. I will give them justice. The galaxy will see that there is someone to fight for them even when the Senate will not."

Padmé shook her head, "Travien, it's not right. You can't just go around attacking people because they attack you. You have to stop this!"

He jumped away from the railing, "Don't you understand?! I saw from the moment I left stasis that Naboo had no military! I knew that it was vulnerable! I should have started building ships and droids immediately. This station turned out two hundred assassin droids on light construction in twenty four hours, despite the thousands of construction and agricultural droids its building. The people dying on Naboo now are entirely my fault! This is all I can do; I never knew guilt until I woke up but this goddamn conscience you've given me is tearing me apart! This is all I can do, but goddamn it they will not go unpunished! I will not leave justice in the hands of the man who likely sent them there in the first place!" he cried.

Padmé looked at him in shock. She rarely looked into his memories for fear of seeing things she wouldn't be able to deal with. She had always equated being a Sith with doing things that were at the very least distasteful but this was a shock to her system. Travien had never really been this open with his feelings and she began to understand some of what he meant by changing. As she said on Tatooine, he had the capability of being a monster and that she loved him anyway, now she was coming face to face with the monster and had no idea what to do.

Travien just leaned against a bulkhead and slid down. He placed his head in his hands,

"See, I told you. The Dark Side isn't pretty. I don't blame you for not wanting to be around me any more." Padmé sighed and sat down beside him,

"I never have understood what the Dark Side really means. I wanted to understand, but I guess it's something you have to experience. Maybe one day after this you can show me. I won't abandon you because of this. I don't agree with this, I hate the fact that you feel it has to be done. I'm scared that Naboo is going to be caught between two warring Sith Lords both who want to claim it."

Travien nodded, "And you're scared of me." He said finally,

Padmé sighed, "Yes, I am. You wield an incredible amount of power, both within the Force and within the galaxy. You control what must be the single most powerful artefact in existence and even now I am bending to your will, not because you are more powerful or because I'm afraid of you but because I love you."

He sighed, "I don't want you to bend to my will. I always thought that I would bend to yours. I just want you to be happy, to achieve that I need Naboo to be safe. People won't attack if they think that the price is so high. I'm sorry." He whispered. She hugged him and kissed his temple,

"I am not going to approve this attack on Cato Nemoidia. I never will. If another attack of its kind ever occurs again outside of direct conflict, precipitated by the aggressor, I will not remain silent. This time, well there is nothing I can do. There will be no evidence of your involvement here, will there?" He shook his head.

Padmé sighed, "Come on, we have to go and find the others. With any luck the ship will have been refuelled by now, I saw one or two of the pilots beginning the process when we arrived. Let's get up." Travien leaned heavily on Padmé as they got up, baring his soul had somewhat exhausted him and for the first time since they met Padmé saw the blind teenager underneath the façade of the powerful Sith Lord. He stood and straightened himself up, letting go of his lapse in front of Padmé. Travien had come to a decision about himself. He was Sith, that would never change. He had been born a Sith, he would grow old a Sith and die a Sith. He had been forever marked by the Dark Side, but he realized that his past had been surrendered to the Dark Side. He nodded to himself,

Padmé frowned, "Travien, what is it."

He drew himself up, "I have espoused the beliefs of my parents, showing others what a true Sith should be. It's time I practice what I preach. A true Sith doesn't have to be Dark, they don't have to be evil. It's time to become what my parents wanted me to be." He nodded again, "I refuse to be just another Sith in a long line of ruthless dictators." Padmé smiled, her boyfriend had apparently come to a decision about who he was.

He turned to Padmé and smiled, lowering all of his mental barriers for the first time in his life, "Let's go find the others. They will undoubtedly try and grab everything." She chuckled and they walked out of the room, both of them standing proud as they stepped into the elevator. They walked into the armoury that was a level below the observation room and saw that Panaka was indeed trying to decide what to take.

He gestured to the Jedi, "It doesn't matter if it's Sith armour, we can still use it! It's just that damn droid not letting us take the best armour!"

Travien coughed and they all turned around, "HK, where are the elite Sith armours?" he asked,

"Irritated Statement: As I tried to explain to this meatbag, master. The elite armour units are in the crates at the side of the room." HK gestured to a series of crates lined up near the door. Travien nodded, "What of blasters and grenades?" The droid pointed to another crate just beside the first group. Travien nodded,

"Captain, your men are not trained to handle the heavy armour. The elite Sith armour is mostly red so it won't show your position as much as the polished silver version. As I said the red armour is the _elite_ armour, that's not just a colour scheme."

Panaka nodded unhappily and Travien motioned to the two black HK-51 droids that were standing in the doorway, "Get another eighteen droids together and move this to the cruiser in hangar bay five. I want all of the weapons and armour loaded. Wait by the ship for us to return, dismissed." The HK droids picked up a crate each and left the room. Travien walked up to a panel in the wall that looked like any other and pushed it inwards. It popped out and swung open, revealing a small hidden space that contained a series of boxes. Travien pulled out three of the boxes and closed the panel again. He turned around and faced the group,

"These boxes contain lightsaber crystals. They were something collected by my family through their travels." He looked at the Jedi, "You're welcome to see if there is anything in here that you can use."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan just looked shocked and Travien grinned. He turned to HK, "Once we leave the system you are to re-activate the disruption field. Place HK-51 guards throughout the Temple. You have your orders brother."

HK-47 nodded, "Statement: Yes master. Good Luck with the foolish Nemoidians. I wish I could join you."

Travien nodded, "I wish you could join us as well, but your skills are better used elsewhere." He looked to the rest of the group, "Let's get moving, Naboo won't liberate itself, will it?" The rest of the group nodded and headed back to the hangar bay. It was not a very long journey but it was quiet. Everyone noticed that something had changed within Travien and no-one was entirely willing to comment on it. They arrived at the ship and Travien stood looking at the cruiser speculatively. Padmé walked up beside him,

"What is it Travien?" she asked,

Travien hummed speculatively for a moment, "What do you think Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering would say to having a new venue?" he asked,

Padmé frowned, "Why?"

He shrugged, "Because that ship needs to be redesigned but it doesn't really cost me anything to do it. I figure they could spend their time on design and research while building the ships here. Besides, it needs guns, lots of guns."

She laughed quietly, "No, I think that they are quite happy where they are, alright?" Travien actually pouted, no-one could ever remember that expression on his face!

He sorted himself out quickly having noticed the shock around him, "Shame, means I have to design my own ship. Ah well. Let's go people." He marched up the ramp to the ship and marched down again quickly, "HK droids, follow me." He marched back up the ramp and the black droids followed having already loaded the cargo onto the ship. The others followed him up the ship and into the cockpit. He smiled at Ric Ollie as he arrived,

"Ric, you know the way to Naboo from here?" he asked,

The pilot nodded, "Sure thing sir. We ready to go?" Traven nodded, "That we are. Let's get out of here." Ric nodded and the ship was soon lifting off from the hangar bay. Travien looked out of the front just before they left and smiled, no-one else spotted the rust coloured protocol droid looking at the ship as they left. He sent a silent 'see you later' to the droid and the station through the Force, still uncertain as to whether they would hear it. There was a brief rumble, like a small pulse through the Force and the other Force users panicked for a moment,

"What was that?" asked Kenobi wildly

Travien just smiled, "That was the Forge saying 'see you later'." They looked at him with wide eyes. He turned around to them and grinned, "Let's get to work, shall we? We have a lot to do." They removed themselves from the cockpit


	16. Chapter 16

The last few days had been hectic to say the least. Travien had been teaching the Naboo guards how to use the Sith armour properly. This was difficult as they didn't have armour so much as a uniform, they were also unused to full scale blasters. The only one there who was capable was Panaka, which almost had Travien tearing his hair out. The Handmaidens had been teaching Anakin how to use the Force and how to meditate. Travien had to admit, there were worse ways to learn to use the Force than to be taught by two young beautiful women. Anakin's slavery meant that he was mature enough to appreciate that fact as well. Travien had to laugh at the young boy grinning while blushing like mad as the two handmaidens fawned over him. It had been a tense few days as once he had taught the guards how to use the armour properly he moved on to training with Padmé. They had been training hard but there was only so much progress that could be made in under a week. At least she had learned to deflect both lightning and force pushes.

They all stood in the throne room. Padmé sat on the Throne, lacking all of her usual regalia as the others wandered in.

Padmé nodded and they silenced themselves, "As you know, we are on our way back to Naboo. We will need to be prepared." That was all she said before Panaka interrupted,

"Your majesty, with all due respect, this is madness. As soon as we land you will be arrested and forced to sign the treaty." Padmé hook her head,

"I will not be signing that treaty Captain." She stated,

Qui-Gon stepped forward, "I agree your majesty. I do not understand what you hope to accomplish by this." He said sadly. He knew that to try and convince her otherwise was futile but he had to try.

Padmé remained resolute, "I intend to take back what's ours."

Panaka shook his head, "We cannot win your highness. We don't have enough soldiers. Even with Travien and the equipment he has given us we have no army. I have no doubt that Travien can win this battle but only by levelling Theed."

Travien raised his eyebrows, "There's something I hadn't considered." He said innocently. Everyone turned to glare at him and he raised his hands, "Alright, I'm shutting up." Qui-Gon turned back to the Queen,

"Your majesty, we can only defend you, we cannot fight a war for you." Travien nodded at the truth in that statement. _'What are you planning sweetheart?'_

Padmé smiled wickedly at him, "Jar Jar Binks, step forward." She sent a message back to Travien, _'Weesa havin' a graaand army.'_

Travien smiled triumphantly, he should have thought of that himself but it didn't matter. It had been thought of.

"I need your help Jar Jar. You told me of the army your people possess. I need their help to defeat the Trade Federation."

Jar Jar looked hesitant, "Meesa not sure. Meesa bein banished." He said slowly,

Travien stepped forward, "I will have you in my sight all the way. You have my word that no harm will come to you." Jar Jar looked at him and nodded,

"Meesa leadin you to Otoh Gunga." He said at last.

Padmé nodded, "Thank you Jar Jar. Let's make our final preparations." They all nodded and broke apart from the group. Most of them left with the exception of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gon walked up to them and watched in confusion as Travien stepped back and away,

"Your majesty, please there must be another way."

Padmé was about to talk but Travien got there first, "There is. We go back to the Forge, wait two weeks for me to build my own Droid army with ships to match and I take Naboo by force. Then I move on to Nemoidia and its purse worlds to make sure they cannot retaliate."

Qui-Gon gulped, "I see, that is a less desirable option I admit. Is there no possibility of a peaceful resolution to this dispute?"

Travien shook his head, "We're almost there, Jedi. You can feel people dying as easily as I can. The pain and suffering that is emanating from that planet is immense, we simply don't have time for anything else." Qui-Gon sighed and nodded,

"Very well. What do you need us to do?" he asked.

Padmé nodded to Travien, "I have no doubt that among the Jedi Order you are skilled. This situation is different. There is a good chance that Concido will be present at this battle. If he is then we have unfinished business. This is a Sith matter. Your job will be to defend Padmé."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "And what of the Sith?"

Travien took a deep breath, "He's not one of my Sith, I care little for what happens to him. If he can be captured alive then I will most likely turn him over to the Jedi Order for study or interrogation. If he cannot be captured alive then he will be killed."

Qui-Gon blinked, "You would just hand him over?"

Travien nodded, "As long as he is free then he is a threat to Padmé. I will not suffer a threat to Padmé to exist."

The Jedi nodded, "Very well. We will do as you ask. What of the handmaidens?"

Travien smirked, "They have their own duties." Everyone broke apart and the Jedi left. Padmé turned to Travien,

"How do you think HK is doing on his mission?" asked Padmé quietly,

Travien shrugged, "My guess is that he is already there and waiting for us to show ourselves in public. Either way, it is no concern of ours." She nodded and they went back to their quarters to get dressed, they would be landing in a few moments. Padmé put on her handmaiden outfit, or one of them at least and Travien wore the black armour with the faceless helmet that had inspired fear so many millennia before. It took them little time to get ready and Travien left to the cargo bay. He walked in and saw the black HK-51 droids standing waiting for instructions,

"Droids." Said Travien, their cold blue 'eyes' focused on him and he smiled beneath his mask, "Follow me. We have arrived at the planet in question and will be preparing to engage in combat soon."

"Eager statement: As you command, Master." They said in unison, which was just damned creepy. He used the Force to levitate the crates behind the droids and float them ahead of him out the door. The Droids followed him to the loading ramp where he began familiarizing himself with their designations so that he could tell them apart in battle. It was not easy, he was fortunate however that these droids were like HK and used some Rakatan technology giving them a Force echo which allowed him to tell the differences between them.

He felt the very familiar thump of the ship landing and briefly wondered if they had heard of suspension, it couldn't be doing the landing gear any good to impact like that each time. The ramp hissed open and Travien manoeuvred the crates out in front of him as he left the ship followed by the droids and waited for everyone else.

The long walk to the Gungan city had proved a bust. There were no Gungans living in Otoh Gunga any more, there were signs of blaster fire but no Gungans. Jar Jar surfaced after sometime to find Travien, Padmé and the Jedi on the shore of the lake he had dived into. He walked up to them,

"Theysa gone. Dere is no-one dere." He said,

"Have they been captured?" asked Obi-Wan,

Jar Jar shook his head, "Meesa no tink so. Gungans not goin without a fight. If Gungans threatened they be goin to sacred place."

Travien let Qui-Gon do the talking. For some reason he was unreasonably tense and wished he had devoted more time to listening to his mother about the feeling he would get from the Force. He smiled sadly under his mask as he did occasionally just wishing he had spent more time listening to his mother. He banished the thought for another time. He would mourn his parents when the current crisis was over.

He returned his attention to the conversation as Padmé looked at him,

"Jar Jar," said Qui-Gon gently, "Can you lead us there?"

Jar Jar hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed, "Alright, follow me, follow me." He cried enthusiastically. Travien had placed the droids under Panaka's control for the moment. He was grateful to that as he, Padmé and the Jedi had to follow the now running Jar Jar. They ran for about ten minutes through the thick forest as Travien raised a hand and used the Force to pull Jar Jar back.

"You've led us far enough Jar Jar, they know we're here. I just didn't want you running into an unwelcome spear." Jar Jar looked at him,

"Tank you." He said smiling. Travien stepped forward,

"Show yourselves, I know you're there!" he commanded, lacing the Force into his voice.

A serous looking Gungan on the back of a Kaadu mount moved out of his cover and looked at them,

"What is yousa wantin'?" asked the Gungan.

"We are the representatives of the Queen of the Naboo. We wish to speak to your leader." Travien said calmly. The Gungan looked up as the rest of their group finally caught up with them. Fortunately the droids had not yet turned up. The Gungan nodded, "Very well, mesa escortin' you to Boss Nass." Travien nodded and turned to the group,

"Captain, wait here for the droids. I don't think that they will be welcome in the camp." Panaka nodded and Travien followed the mounted Gungan further into the forest with the Naboo 'delegation' following behind him. They walked through the plant life until they were bought before a rotund Gungan standing on a huge tree root. Travien scowled behind his mask. He never stood on a podium to make himself feel important and that was all he could feel from this Gungan a need to feel important in the face of one that he felt inferior to. So he should, Padmé was the only one who he considered to be his equal in the entire galaxy.

The mounted Gungan announced them after a fashion, "Boss Nass, da Queen of da Naboo."

The rotund Gungan looked down on them and the Jedi became wary as they saw that Travien's fist clenched. He hated self important posers, how dare this creature look down on Padmé! Unknown to Traven he hadn't raised his mind shields and the other s could hear what was so loudly echoing inside his head. Padmé was getting nervous, she needed Travien to calm down if they were going to get this to work.

Sabé stepped forward immediately to try and hurry this up,

"I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo." She said much more calmly than she felt, "I come before you in peace."

Boss Nass nodded, "Yousa Naboo biggen. Yousa bringin da Mackineeks. Yousa all bombad!" he stated grandly, dismissing them with a wav of his hand. Now one has to consider that while Travien is turning over a new leaf he did only come to this decision seven days ago. The Jedi cringed as they felt the Dark Side build up and everyone else jumped when a continuous stream of lightning poured from Travien's hand into the scorched ground beneath him. The Gungans all looked at him in fear,

Padmé stepped forward and placed her hand on Travien's armoured arm. He tilted his head to her and waited as they spoke quietly,

'_Travien, we need their help, you cannot do this!'_ she pleaded,

'_I will not allow that self important amphibian to slight your honour. You are a better person than that self important pretender will __ever be!'_ he snapped back.

'_Believe me, your faith in me means more than anything, but we need the resources that he can bring to us. We have to do this, for Naboo. We cannot allow any more lives to be lost.'_

Travien nodded and raised his mind shields. The lightning stopped streaming from his hand and everyone's eyes tracked down to the patch of ground that was now on fire. Travien calmly lifted his boot and stamped on the offending flames which put them out. Everyone gulped and looked away, turning back to the Queen.

Sabé tried valiantly to continue, "We have sought you out because we wish to form an alliance. The droid armies of the Trade Federation seek to destroy everything that we have created. I implore you to help us…"

Padmé hook her head and spoke to Travien mentally, _'This is never going to work. We need something more; he obviously isn't listening to words.'_

Travien snorted _'You could just go and show a bit of good will by introducing yourself.'_ He thought sarcastically,

'_Good idea'_ she replied brightly and stepped forward, Travien reached out to try and stop her, _'I wasn't being serious!'_

Padmé stepped forward, past Sabé and Boss Nass seemed to groan in frustration,

"Whosa dis?!" he asked,

Padmé nodded her head deferentially, "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo." Travien watched in amusement as shock seemed to ripple through the crowd but listened as she continued, "Despite our differences your honour, our two great societies have always lived in peace. The Trade Federation threatens to destroy that peace along with everything that we have worked so hard to build. I ask you to help us, no, I beg you to help us." To Travien's shock and no small amount of rage, to which the Force users winced, Padmé knelt in front of Boss Nass, "Our fate is in your hands." The rest of the group began to kneel as Padmé had done. Boss Nass looked over to the lone standing figure and scowled,

"Whosa Dis?!" he asked angrily,

Padmé looked around and sighed, Travien was still standing. She gulped as he removed his mask and showed the fury he was feeling,

"I am Darth Travien Shan, Dark Lord of the Sith. I kneel before my Queen, and my Queen alone. I suggest you not hold your breath waiting for supplication from me." Padmé scowled at him and Boss Nass huffed,

"Yousa thinkin' yousa better than the Gungans?!" he roared,

Travien snorted, "You know little about Sith Lords, Boss Nass, we tend to think ourselves superior to _everyone_. The Queen is my only exception to that rule, so don't think yourself so special." Travien considered the lead Gungan for a moment, "Perhaps you should consider that my preferred option of dealing with the Trade Federation will leave large portions of this planet uninhabitable."

Boss Nass sneered, "Yousa thinking you could destroy da planet?!" he laughed,

Travien smirked darkly, "Wouldn't be the first time, I can tell you that. Although I think my rehabilitation is going well, I'm just a mass murderer now instead of a mass murdering psychopath." Everyone stopped to look at him in shock as Padmé closed her eyes sadly, so that was what he still thought of himself was it. Traven continued, "Choose Boss Nass, the eventual destruction of your people and your way of life, or an alliance and the possibilities of trade and knowledge gained not only from the Naboo but the rest of the galaxy. Will you place your pride over the lives of your people?" he asked.

Boss Nass glared at Travien and turned his attention to Padmé, "The Naboo no thinking theysa better than the Gungans?" He asked Padmé who shook her head solemnly. He looked askance at Travien who was still glaring at him and turned to Padmé, "Meesa lika dees. Maybe weesa bein' friends." The rest of the group got up and began chatting in relief while Padmé turned to Travien and glared at him,

"You jeopardized the entire negotiation." She hissed, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Travien did something he had never done before and glared at Padmé, who stepped back, "Sith Lords do not kneel." He hissed back, "I kneel before you out of respect and love, to show that I do not consider myself above you. I will not kneel before another; even Malak never knelt before Revan. Father respected that even though he despised Malak. Besides, what kind of negotiation relies upon the complete submission of the opposite number? That is called surrender."

Padmé looked stunned by his reaction and showed it, "Are you alright, Travien?"

He shook his head, "No I'm not. The Force is screaming a warning at me, but mother didn't have time to teach me how to interpret them. I don't know what is going to go wrong but it will go wrong badly. I'm in a foul mood because you're in danger and I have no prospect of reinforcements from the Forge. I should have kept us there long enough to build a fleet; I should never have bothered with Coruscant in the first place."

Padmé sighed, "You cannot take so much upon yourself. You can't do everything; you're only one man, no matter how powerful." He nodded,

"After this I think I'm taking a vacation, join me?" he said softly,

She smiled, "Where to?"

"One of the Core Worlds. Talravin." He said softly.

Padmé nodded, noticing that everyone was beginning to move out she and the others had to begin a plan, "Why Talravin?" she asked.

Travien smiled sadly, "My mother was born there." He said quietly before walking off the find the droids. Padmé stood there silently for a moment to assimilate what he had just said. She smiled slightly; he was mourning the loss of his parents. She couldn't imagine that it was something that he had done before now.

* * *

In Theed Palace things were not going nearly as well. Darth Sidious was speaking to his apprentice, who even he had begun calling Concido inside his own head, Darth Maul and the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. He was extremely concerned; several days ago he had felt a surge in the Dark Side of the Force and had no idea what this could mean.

The Viceroy seemed to be desperately trying to justify his existence to Sidious, "My Lord, we have already located the Queen's starship in the swamp. It is only a matter of time before our teams locate her."

Sidious frowned, "This is an unexpected move for her, far too bold. This is undoubtedly the work of Darth Shan." Sidious turned to Maul, "Lord Maul, be mindful. Attempt to avoid Lord Shan if you can. His powers are beyond what I had believed them to be and he is as yet an unknown entity."

Maul nodded, "I will be mindful, Master. What should I do if I encounter him?"

Sidious thought for a moment, "Engage him if you can. Do not let him slip away." Maul nodded,

Nute Gunray spoke up trembling, "It is true, then? He is in fact a Sith Lord?"

Sidious shook his head, "No Viceroy, he is an Ancient Sith Lord. There are few to no records about him therefore he is unpredictable. I have no idea how this will change the situation, you must adapt swiftly."

Maul shuddered imagining the power he was going to face. The first time should have been fatal but the Sith Lord had wanted him to improve. There was no way he could improve enough in such a short time to survive a second attempt. Maul bowed to Sidious, "As you wish, my Master." All three occupants of the palace shivered slightly as the hologram shut off.


	17. Chapter 17

Travien as currently standing with the leadership of the Gungans and the Jedi as Padmé was explaining the plan to the rest of the group. She was about to explain the bulk of the plan when they heard Anakin calling them, "They're here!" Padmé nodded and sighed, "I had hoped they would make it. It would appear that the leaders of the resistance have arrived."

Travien nodded, "I'll gather a few of our guys to send back with them, so they can teach others how to use the armour. I'm sure as hell not going." Padmé smiled and nodded to him.

Padmé turned to Panaka a he walked up to them, "What's the situation?" she asked him. It was times like this when Travien thought she would make a hell of a military leader.

Panaka shook his head, "Almost everyone's in camps. There are a few hundred police and guards who have formed an underground resistance movement with the arms that Travien suggested we move," He nodded to Travien who returned the gesture, "I've brought back as many of the leaders as I could."

Travien nodded, "Good, we can send the armour back with them so that they have it when they need it."

Panaka continued, "The Trade Federation forces are also far larger than we thought. I don't see how we can win this battle your majesty." He said dejectedly,

Padmé sighed, Travien knew that something was weighing on her conscience as so many things weighed on his, she drew herself up,

"The main battle is a diversion; the Gungan armies will draw the droid armies away from the city. R2, the display please." The little droid bleeped a couple of times and displayed a blue holographic image of Theed Palace. A small series of lines traced around the image as Padmé narrated the attack, "A small task force will enter the palace through a secret entrance near the hangar bay. Once we are there then Captain Panaka will create a diversion, with the HK series assassin droids. The rest of us will sneak into the Palace and capture the Viceroy. Without the Viceroy they will be lost and confused. Travien, Master Jedi, what do you think?"

Travein stood back in thought and waved for the Jedi to go first. Qui-Gon nodded and began asking questions, "The viceroy will be very well guarded." cautioned the Jedi.

Panaka shook his head, "The difficulty will be getting into the control room. Once we are there we shouldn't have a problem." Travien waved a hand,

"Never assume that. I made that kind of assumption once and lost over fifty thousand soldiers in the space of twenty minutes. My father used to tell me that assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups. The bigger the assumption the more kids she has." That got an appreciative smile from Padmé and an acknowledging nod from Panaka,

"What do you suggest?" he asked honestly,

He looked at Padmé and the Handmaidens, "Do not be afraid to use your training. Go in with everything you have, once battle commences end it as quickly as possible." She nodded solemnly and Travien waved to the Jedi to continue,

Qui-Gon bowed slightly, "There is the chance that many Gungans could die."

Boss Nass looked up fiercely, "Weesa ready to do arsen part!"

Travien waved that off, "Many more people will die on both sides if we do not fight."

Padmé nodded, "Besides we have a plan to disable the droids. The command ship in orbit is also acting as a droid control ship. If we can destroy that ship then we can disable the droids on the ground."

Qui-Gon nodded, "It's a good plan, I admit, but what if your weapons cannot penetrate their shields?"

"That's something I've been wondering as well. Do your vessels have ion weapons?" Padmé shook her head, "When this is over I'm going to be talking to Parliament. I understand non-violence but not equipping what guards you have is just taking the piss." He sighed, "The most likely way is going to be getting inside the ship and hitting a critical system. There is no way a non-Force sensitive pilot is going to manage that. If we can capture the Viceroy he will be forced to give the order to stand down. There is no way he will risk his life on the off chance of rescue." The others nodded, including Padmé.

Obi-Wan butted in, "What if the Viceroy escapes, there are chances that he will return with another droid army."

Travien shook his head, "That one I have covered. I can get a droid army together in half the time with positive odds of five to one. I have superior firepower, superior droids and faster building facilities. He will not be setting foot on Naboo again."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "Can you be sure of that?"

Travien nodded, "Father raised a fleet of twenty thousand ships in two years. I've already started construction just in case."

Obi-Wan nodded, "If they succeed in taking us prisoner?"

Travien shrugged, "Then HK-47 will likely turn Pure Nemoidia into a puddle of smouldering glass. HK will not surrender, it's programmed into him." He paused for a moment, "A thought occurs. We don't need to destroy the control ship. Just it's communications array."

Padmé looked up in amazement, "Of course, if it can't transmit orders then it can't command the droids!"

Travien nodded, "That was done to me a few times before I stopped using battle droids."

Travien looked to Padmé, "That's most of my issues with this, now, where do you want me? I can do a lot of damage in the main battle or I can deal with Concido if he's in the palace which he more than likely is."

Padmé thought for a moment, "You'll be coming with me. I'll need every lightsaber I can get." Travien nodded, "Your will, milady."

Padmé nodded, "alright, let's move out. We have little time and we need to minimize the damage, did you hear that Travien?!" she asked humorously,

Travien rolled his eyes, for all the good it did, "Yes, I heard you. No wholesale destruction, no wanton slaughter. Good gods woman you sound like my mother. Travien don't do this, Travien don't kill that person, and Travien don't wipe out that planet." He huffed, "Fine, I'll behave." He said petulantly. Everyone got one last laugh from this display as they separated to go their separate ways and the spare crates of armour and weapons were loaded into the speeders.

* * *

Darth Sidious pondered the information given to him by the Viceroy. This was not looking good. He wasn't arrogant enough to think that there was no chance that the natives could win, after all even a Jedi can get lucky. He would have to be careful, he had attracted too much of Travien's attention anyway. He could hardly get rid of the man if he was constantly watching him. He finished listening to Gunray's latest report,

"She is more foolish than I thought." He said thoughtfully, _either that or she knows something I don't._

Gunray looked proudly at the hologram, "We are sending all of our battle droids to deal with the army that is gathering in the swamps, my Lord. It appears to be made entirely of primitives that escaped our droids. This rebellion will be crushed." He said,

Sidious thought for a moment, even a primitive could be dangerous with the right incentive or weapon. Travien was not an adult yet, not galactically speaking, but he was an accomplished military leader. He decided that he really had no other choice,

"Lord Maul, be careful. Your intelligence gives no idea to the location of Lord Shan. He could be anywhere and his impact could be equally devastating at any point." Maul nodded, trying to hide the fact that he wanted to hide. "For now this may work to our advantage. Dispatch the primitives quickly and bring the droids back to the city."

Gunray had barely registered the warning about Travien as he was too involved in the idea of gaining unlimited access to the profits from Naboo's plasma trade. He looked at Sidious,

"I have your approval to proceed, My Lord?" he asked,

Sidious nodded, "Wipe them out, all of them."

Travien was back in his traditional black armour. He was sneaking along the streets of Theed with Padmé in front of him. It had been decided that his armour was a little too unique so that they needed him not to be at the front just in case they were spotted. They were not eager to encourage this Sith Lord to come out of hiding. Travien smiled as he heard the slight thumping sound of footsteps behind him as the HK-51 droids followed them. He felt a lot better with them at his back to be honest. What confused him was why the hell the Jedi had brought young Anakin with them.

They came to the corner of the street and stopped. Travien extended his senses and essentially looked around the corner. Padmé turned to him as she felt his power flow,

"Are you alright?" she asked in a whisper

He nodded and replied telepathically, _'Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not used to sneaking about, I tend to charge on in and destroy anything in my path.'_

Padmé chuckled slightly as she remembered that Travien was not used to subtlety. She looked to Panaka who was signalling to them from across the street. She saw the light flashing and knew that meant that they were okay to go as soon as the distraction was complete,

Qui-Gon crouched down to talk to Anakin, "Once we get inside you find a safe place to hide and stay there, okay?"

"Sure," answered Anakin. Obviously Qui-Gon thought the same as Travien when the answer came too quickly and told him once more to stay there.

They watched as the land speeder came around the corner and targeted the Trade Federation hover tank before the droids even noticed a problem. The speeder fired with a large almost cannon like blaster that had been mounted on at which disabled the tank instantly. Suddenly there were dozens of soldiers streaming out of the side streets and alley ways in red Sith Elite armour and Travien felt the fervour of battle, something he hadn't felt since just after the betrayal and the Civil War, this was going to be fun. In time with Padmé and the two Jedi he activated his blood red lightsaber. He had instructed the girls to change to a silver crystal in case anyone was watching the battle and snuck around the pillar separating them from the hangar bay. While he couldn't intervene in the fight directly he did pepper the battlefield with pulse of energy that knocked several droids off of their feet. The HK units followed them into the hangar,

Meanwhile in Theed Palace,

Viceroy Gunray looked at the monitor in a panic, "I thought the battle was going to take place far from here. This is far too close. Summon the droids back."

Ruune Haako, his second in command looked at the screen, "What are those soldiers, I do not recognise them."

"Impossible." Hissed Maul,

"Wh…what is it, Lord Maul?" asked Gunray,

"They are Sith foot soldiers. Ancient Sith foot soldiers. There is no way that Shan could have assembled and trained such a force so quickly. He is here within the city that is the only possible explanation for them being here."

"What shall we do?" trembled Haako,

"I will deal with him." Hissed Maul as he walked off, still limping slightly from his last encounter with Travien.

They walked into the hangar bay to be confronted with almost fifty droids, Travien grinned,

"Well, that's more than we were expecting." He said loudly enough to attract the attention of the droids. They turned to the invaders all at once and Travien raised his hand releasing a force pulse that ripped up a couple of loose floor tiles as well as half the droids before raising his lightsaber to deflect the incoming blaster bolts alongside Padmé. He grinned behind his mask at the fun as he heard instructions issued around him,

"Pilots get to your ships!" screamed Padmé.

Travien 'spotted' Anakin running into the cockpit of one of the fighters but knew he could do nothing; this was a very clear warning from the Force. That was where the boy had to be. He was one of the few that didn't duck when the fighters began taking off over his head. He was still deflecting fire from the remaining battle droids and thinking about how much he preferred straight lightsaber combat. It wasn't long before they were rounding up the last of the battle droids and the majority of the fighters had left. Travien walked up to Padmé as they regrouped,

She looked around, "My guess is that the Viceroy's in the Throne Room." She said to Panaka,

He nodded, "Red group, blue group, everybody this way." He called. Travien followed them as they headed for the door.

"Hey, wait for me!" called Anakin.

Travien decided not to intervene when he heard Qui-Gon, "Anakin stay where you are, you'll be safe there."

"But I-"

"Stay in that cockpit!" he ordered. Travien had to grin at that. He reached out with his senses and noticed a Dark presence just behind the door as they reached it. The door began to open just before they arrived and revealed Darth Maul standing the other side of it. Padmé, Eirtaé and Sabé activated their sabres, as did Travien and both Jedi, all of whom moved to the front.

Travien removed his mask and grinned, "The rest of you leave. This is business between Sith." He raised his lightsaber in a salute to Maul.

"Are you sure?" asked Padmé

Travien nodded, "Yes, I should have done this on Tatooine." Padmé and the Jedi nodded, "We'll take the long way." Travien nodded, still focussing on Darth Maul.


	18. Chapter 18

Travien grinned at the Sith,

"I see you survived, Concido."

Maul snarled, "Do not call me that. I am Darth Maul." He activated both of his lightsaber blades. For the first time in his life Travien called on both the light and dark sides of the Force at once. More accurately he just called on the Force. Travien raised his sabre just as Maul charged at him. He laughed and began deflecting the sabre blades away from himself, using the parries to build up momentum until he had Maul on the defensive. He heard a sound behind him and knew that Padmé had just run into destroyer droids. There was nothing he could do right now but he trusted the Jedi to look after her even in the unlikely event that she couldn't look after herself.

Travien ducked under the swing of one of Maul's blades and planted a firm kick in his abdomen, causing the older Sith to back away from him coughing. Maul backed toward a large doorway and threw a piece of debris into the door panel causing it to open.

"What's wrong Concido, surely you're not trying to run already. We've only just gotten started." taunted Travien.

Maul launched at him with a series of angry blows and was forced back into a room that looked like some sort of power generation plant. The huge transparent pillars seemed to not only glow but hum with energy. He grinned at Maul, who tried twirling away from him,

"Do you know the history behind that weapon of yours?" he asked politely, catching Maul off guard and allowing Travien to push him further back while Maul barely dodge slash to his upper torso.

"What history?" snarled the other Sith,

Travien smiled and bent backwards to dodge a horizontal slash that would have decapitated him. He collapsed to the ground and rolled backwards, getting to his feet in time to dodge a rather accurate vertical follow up to his original attack. Travien dodged the attack by spinning around and brought his sabre around in a strike that forced Maul back a couple of paces. He launched into a series of fast swirling strikes born out of Djem So, keeping the less experienced Dark Lord off balance and moving backwards.

"The double bladed sabre. Mother used to use one so I looked it up. It was first created by Sith Lord Exar Kun, about forty years before I was born." He dodged another slash and caught Maul's right arm with the lightsaber equivalent of an uppercut. Maul jumped backwards,

"Why should I care?" he asked with a glare,

"Simple, Concido, you must always respect a weapon. If you fail to respect it then it will turn against you. I suspect that you don't respect the Force either, do you?"

Maul barely held out against the flurry of blows that Travien attempted to land on him this time. He moved backwards and lost his footing, causing him to fall from the ledge. He managed to catch himself just in time to use the Force to land properly only to look up and see that Travien had followed him. The cape from Travien's armour fluttered upward as the Sith Lord landed lightly on his feet in front of Maul. Travien decided to stop playing around and slid his right foot forward, leaning on his left and bringing his lightsaber up beside his head, his right shoulder and hand leaning towards Maul, "Enough playing Concido, now we finish this." He said in his father's favourite stance.

Maul stayed stationary and waited for Travien to attack. He was not disappointed either. Travien launched himself forward faster than he ever had before and began layering blow upon blow upon Maul. The weaker Sith was at the limit of his ability just to prevent the myriad of attacks from turning him into thin strips. Maul eventually blocked an upward shot which allowed Travien to kick at his still slightly injured legs causing Maul to reel back in agony.

The distraction it caused was enough time for Travien to slice the saberstaff in two. Maul staggered back from the attack and was completely unprepared for Travien to plunge his lightsaber straight through his chest. Maul's eyes widened dramatically as he felt the burning sword clip his heart and he knew that he would die,

"Light or Dark Concido, I am the Lord of the Sith. You are a threat to Padmé and cannot be allowed to exist. I condemn you to the afterlife with the knowledge that you failed. I will continue on and your master will die by my hand." He hissed before pulling his sabre back and kicking Maul off of the bridge. Maul fell into the darkness below and Travien walked back towards the door,

He breathed out deeply, "It's done." He nodded and walked off. That creature was no Sith, he was never a Darth and didn't deserve Travien's respect. He had been attacked because of Maul's displaced sense of rage and his injured pride. Both of those were what had condemned him to death. Travien snorted and left quickly, intent upon catching up with Padmé. He smiled when he realised that the warnings from the Force had stopped screaming at him.

Suddenly the screaming started again and this time it took on a familiar voice telling him to run, that he had to hurry. He remembered all of a sudden when he had heard the screaming before. The last time he had heard it had been the deaths of his parents. Travien's eyes widened and he broke out into a run, following the Force signature that Padmé left behind, seeing an echo of the events as he ran.

Padmé sighed and turned away from the oncoming fight, she knew that this was a matter of pride for Travien. He was the one who had given the Sith another chance and it was his responsibility to deal with him, but that didn't make her feel any better. She felt slightly reassured as Qui-Gon dropped into step beside her and Obi-Wan took up position beside Sabé,

"Your majesty," he whispered, "Is it wise to allow Lord Shan to deal with the Sith himself?"

Padmé shook her head, "Wise? No, it isn't wise. It is however necessary. Travien was the one who let him go in the first place. If Concido, or whatever his name is, hasn't learned now then he isn't going to. Travien needs to finish what he started. To him this is separating him from the standard Sith. It's not easy for him."

Qui-Gon was about to ask exactly what Padmé meant by that but was distracted when three destroyer droids rolled out in front of them equipped with shield generators. All five lightsaber wielders made an effort to deflect the blaster fire back at the droids, Padmé lasting the longest but even she had to take cover until she heard a noise that didn't seem right. Padmé looked over to the last starfighter in the hangar and saw that it was powering up, she nudged Qui-Gon, "Isn't Anakin in that starfighter?" she asked urgently,

"Oh Sith!" swore Qui-Gon,

"They have their own problems." retorted Padmé.

Qui-Gon glared at her, "Not the right time, your majesty." He said. Padmé shrugged as they watched the fighter move slowly from its stationary spot and turn towards the destroyer droids in front of them. Padmé looked on in surprise and relief as she saw the starfighter open up on the three droids. She sighed in relief as the droids were destroyed and watched despondently as young Anakin was flown out of the hangar. She decided to have a go at her boyfriend's favourite pass time,

She smirked at Qui-Gon, "Travien has taken a real liking to that boy, you know that, right?" Qui-Gon paled as she carried on, seemingly unaware of his distress, "And I dread to think of what Shmi is going to do to you." She giggled as Qui-Gon almost passed out on the spot at the thought of having both Travien and Shmi after him. She could see why Travien thought that this was so much fun to be honest.

She briefly wondered how Travien was doing but she could sense him clearly through the Force and knew that he was alright. She got up from behind her cover,

"Come on, those droids mean that Gunray knows we're here. We can't afford to let him get away. Everyone follow me. Padawan Kenobi, stay with Eirtaé and the Queen, Master Jinn, come with me." The force users nodded and the entire group followed Padmé into the Palace itself. They walked along the corridors silently until they saw a group of battle droids and Padmé charged forward, her lightsaber blazing and charged straight into the fray. She noticed the Jedi beside her and smiled as she let herself flow into the fight and embrace the battle. It was a skill that Travien had taught her months ago. She grinned as she felt the miniscule pressure of her lightsaber carving through one droid after another.

The conflict was soon over with the droids left in a pile of broken parts and inanimate hulks on the floor where a few of them had been shot by the Naboo Security Forces. She pulled back from the fight just as the large doors at the end of the corridor opened revealing a large number of battle droids and two more destroyer droids. Padmé's eyes widened as she dived into cover along with the others. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"Suggestions?" she said calmly.

Sabé nodded, "Take half of the guards and find another route. We can stay here and keep the droids busy letting Gunray think we are still here and pinned down while you capture him."

Padmé looked at her, "There's a chance that you won't walk away from this, are you sure that you're willing to risk it?" Sabé nodded,

"This is more important than one of us." She said.

Padmé nodded solemnly, "Master Jinn, remain here. Captain, let's go." Panaka nodded and turned to a window, raising his Guards blaster pistol he blew away the window opposite. Padmé deflected a few shots as she ran across the hallway and climbed on to the window ledge. She grabbed the guard pistol that Panaka had given her. She hadn't yet gotten to the point where she could make that jump. She raised the pistol and fired the ascension gun that had been attached to it.

She jerked as she was lifted off of her feet along with the guards who were accompanying her. The journey was quick and Padmé was impressed that such a small device could lift a person, not all of her guards were exactly small after all. She stood aside as Panaka blasted the windows. She smiled, it was both endearing and annoying that Panaka would pretend that she needed things done for her. They walked into the corridor and found that almost all of the droids had been diverted.

She saw the Throne room up ahead and ran for it. She had to slow down so that the guards could keep pace and they reached the room easily enough, finding the two Nemoidians, Nute Gunray and Ruune Haako standing there. She broke out into a run and the guards followed her, her lightsaber flying back into her hand and activating. She walked into the room with a victorious grin,

"Viceroy, you are under arrest." She said smugly. She frowned in confusion when Gunray just smiled but soon understood when she heard the metallic footsteps and the grating sound of droids. Looking around she saw over a dozen battle droids and two more destroyer droids. She lowered the sabre with a glare at Gunray who smiled happily and dropped it as he ordered.

"Now, your majesty, we will discus the treaty." He said smugly.

Padmé snarled at him, "I'll never sign your treaty. You may as well stop wasting your breath."

Gunray drew himself up, "We have methods for making you agree." He said with a sadistic grin.

Padmé snorted, "Oh I dare you. Torture me. Travien would never let you die once you do that."

"A mere child does not scare me." He replied pompously. At that moment his attention was distracted. A group stood in the doorway and Gunray swore,

"This one is an imposter! That one is the Queen! Catch her!" he screamed. Padmé pulled two blasters from a hidden compartment and threw one of them to Panaka. She took the heads off of several droids before calling to the Captain while Gunray looked around in confusion,

"Captain, seal the doors."

He nodded and closed the doors and Padmé turned to the Viceroy with a look of rage on her face. She activated the lightsaber in her hands. The guards knew that this was not supposed to happen but they couldn't turn a weapon against the Queen,

Padmé glared at him, the hatred and rage she felt were all coming to the surface, suffusing her very being as she felt the suffering, pain and death that her people were suffering even now. She snarled at him,

"Perhaps Viceroy I should simply forget about even bothering to negotiate with you." She snapped.

"You cannot do this!" he cried, "There are laws!" he shouted desperately,

Padmé snorted, "As Lord Shan would say, I am simply performing a weapons test on a terrorist combatant." She said happily as she swung the lightsaber. There was no time to process anything as the large doors to the Throne room ripped open from the middle and a blur hit Gunray just in time to move him out of the path of the lightsaber, taking the hit from the blade. Padmé screamed as he fell and raised her blade again.

* * *

Travien was running and running hard. The Force was screaming in his ear and he was trying to follow Padmé's trail. It was hard because the pain coming from just about everywhere was immense, between that and his fight with Maul he was beginning to lose his cool. He found himself in a large corridor, there was a lot of debris and several dead Naboo guards lying there in Sith armour. Gods, was that ever a familiar sight. He walked over to a window that had been blasted out and saw the Padmé had been here, there was carbon scoring near the window but it was the wrong shape to have come from the droids and none of the Naboo soldiers were as bad as he was with a blaster, it had to be a deflection. That at least meant a lightsaber.

He stepped out onto the ledge outside the blasted window when he noticed that some of the glass had been broken on the spot. Not as it landed but as though it had been trodden on afterwards. He took a deep breath and jumped upwards, only just making it to the ledge above. He took a few moments to get his balance when he noticed that he could feel Padmé's presence. She was angry, but that was understandable given the circumstances. He hopped in from the outside when he saw the doors to the Throne room close. He frowned and noticed that Padmé's presence was darkening. He gulped and tried to reach out and talk to her but she wasn't listening. He began running for the door, building the Force up into his hand. Just before he reached the double doors he let the Force go in a narrow push which blasted the doors open.

He charged through and saw Padmé about to kill Gunray. Okay, it's Gunray, but he's unarmed and practically begging for his life. Travien jumped and pushed Gunray to the floor, unfortunately Padmé's lightsaber passed through his right eye as he did so, leaving a cut both above and below the eye. Travien rolled as he hit the ground and came up with his lightsaber active, which was fortunate as it was required to defend himself against Padmé's follow up attack,

"Padmé! Stop!" he shouted. Padmé glared at him as she held her lightsaber against his, Travien was terrified to see a slight yellow tinge to her eyes,

"WHY!" she screamed, "Why shouldn't I kill him?!"

"Because he is unarmed, kill him in cold blood and you will be everything you ever hated." He said calmly,

"Oh so _you_ get to kill in cold blood?!" she snarled, "It's alright for _you_ to be a murderer but not me?!"

"YES!" he roared at her, finally losing his temper, "Yes it is! I am a mass murderer, I have destroyed worlds. I have a kill count with fifteen bloody goddamned figures and I remember the name of every man, woman or child who has ever fallen to my blade!" he screamed back at her, "YES! I can do that. That's what I am, what is I was born and raised to be! You're better than that! You're better than me!" He slumped and stepped backwards, moving his lightsaber away from Padmé's and to a position across Gunray's throat. He sighed, "You want him dead, fine. Say the word, but tell me what the difference is between this and HK-47 first."

Padmé looked at Travien as he held a lightsaber to the Nemoidians throat. It was the first time she had seen him anything other than confident. Even when he had no idea what to do he was confident. She looked at his face and saw a gash going through his eye that was pouring blood down his face. She could tell that it was a lightsaber injury but it looked recent. Then she realised, she had done that to him. Her lightsaber would have blinded him if it had been possible. She dropped her lightsaber and it deactivated before it hit the floor. Her arms fell slack to her sides and she let go of the Force.

"D…don't kill him." She said weakly. They then heard a message over the communicator that Panaka was carrying,

"The droid control ship has been destroyed. I repeat, the droid control ship has been destroyed." There was cheering in the background as everyone listening began showing their relief and celebrating as they heard another voice,

"The droids are shutting down. The battle droids have all deactivated!"

Travien smiled at Padmé as he de-activated his lightsaber,

"We won, Padmé. We won."

She nodded and approached him slowly. Reaching out with a hand she went to touch the open wound but Travien grabbed her hand, "It's a little painful love. Let's just leave it be for the moment."

Padmé nodded and regained her composure before turning to the Viceroy, who was still lying on the ground, "I think we will be discussing a new treaty Viceroy."

He nodded frantically and Travien smiled around the room, "By the Force, we actually did it. I'll be honest and say that I thought we were all going to die."

Panaka looked at him strangely, "You weren't worried about that?"

Travien shrugged, "I'm kind of overdue." Padmé just chuckled quietly and hugged him.


	19. Chapter 19

Travien was feeling pretty good about life at this point. It had taken a couple of days and a good healer but his eye was as good as ever, which meant it was utterly useless but it appeared to be okay. The livid red scar that had been running through it had calmed to a dark pink line, but he was okay with that. He was walking with a cane at the moment but that was because he had torn up his leg rather badly on a twisted shard from the doors to the Throne room. In all the excitement no-one had noticed for about half an hour.

He was currently standing in the courtyard of Naboo beside Padmé. They were waiting for the newly elected Supreme Chancellor, Chancellor Palpatine. Travien had smiled grimly when he heard that, he knew that the old guy was going to get elected but it didn't make him feel any better. Padmé had thrown a fit once the news had actually sunk in about Palpatine being a Sith Lord and having assisted in the invasion of Naboo. It was the second time in a week that she had almost fallen to the dark side, but Travien was confident that it was in the past. He would begin teaching her to use the Dark Side soon so that it was less of a danger to her.

It was a bright sunny day outside and there were droids everywhere. Most of the droids were construction droids that had been specially designed and programmed to re-create the unique architecture found in the surface cities of Naboo. Similar droids had been programmed and were helping the Gungans repair Otoh Gunga. He might even tell the Gungans that he was using the droids to get an analysis of the technology that they had refused to share with him. He was a Sith Lord after all; there was no call to be honest with anyone but Padmé.

He smiled and spoke to Padmé in a quiet voice, "Don't worry about him, love." He knew that she wanted to kill the lying little bastard,

Padmé snorted, "There is a Sith Lord leading the Republic, isn't that kind of counter-intuitive?" she asked sarcastically,

Travien shrugged, "I don't know. He's a Sith Lord but he's not leading an Empire. I take solace in the fact that nobody but us seems to be getting things to go their way." Padmé grinned at that comment.

The large Corellian vessel landed and Travien leaned into Padmé again, "You'd think with all the resources at his disposal he would have gotten a decent looking ship." He mumbled,

"We don't all have a Star Forge, you know." She said rolling her eyes.

Travien frowned, "Have I not given you your command codes?"

"Command codes?" asked Padmé

Travien nodded, "Yeah, I added a set of command codes to the Forge's system when I retrieved the construction droids. That way you don't have to ask me every time you need something. I figured it would irritate you after a while." There was a slight cheer from the crowd as she kissed him lightly,

"Thank you. I can't believe you did that after I almost removed your eye." She said sadly. Travien knew it would be one of those things that were hard for her to deal with. He shrugged,

"Padmé, it didn't work in the first place. Now I have a cool scar that makes me look even more like my job description and gives me something in common with my father."

"What do you mean by that? When did your mother attempt to remove your father's eye?" she asked curiously,

Travien shrugged, "It was a few weeks before I was born. She wanted a sardine and chocolate spread sandwich. I never really wanted to know, but apparently they were in hyperspace at the time and only dad was willing to admit that they had no sardines or chocolate onboard. Apparently he wasn't polite enough." Padmé raised an eyebrow and Travien smiled, "It seems that hormonal mood swings don't go well with Sith Lord tendencies."

Padmé smiled at the impromptu anecdote. She wanted to snort but had to remain regal and composed when in public. She stiffened when the Viceroy and his assistance stopped when they were passing them and were turned to face the Queen,

Padmé glared at the defeated Nemoidian, "Now you're going to have to go to the Senate and answer for what you've done, Viceroy."

Panaka stepped forward, "I think you can kiss your trade franchise goodbye Viceroy." He said before walking off.

Travien grinned at the man and turned to the Nemoidian, "I'm not sure that I can do anything to you that will hurt like that Viceroy. But I can try." He leaned in and whispered to the Nemoidian, "Remember what I said Gunray, ten for one. There's a reason they call me _Darth_ Shan." He leaned back and smiled at the look of horror on the Nemoidians face as he was led away.

Padmé leaned into him, "You know he's going to spill that to the Senate? They might link it to you," she whispered,

Travien shook his head, "HK's too good for that and I was standing right here. Besides, who's going to believe that the boyfriend of the peace loving Queen Amidala, heroine of Naboo is an evil Sith Lord? Really, no-one's that daft, right?"

They followed the Nemoidians as they were led in the direction of the Chancellor's ship and Travien looked around. Every single soldier was outfitted in shiny silver Sith armour, a gift that Travien had given them for the time being until other arrangements could be made. He had to smile, the silver fit in perfectly with other aspects of the Naboo military, but for those who knew where to look, like Padmé, the Handmaidens, the Jedi and Sio Bibble, there were Sith soldiers lining the streets of Naboo. The black droids behind them, HK units that had fought with the beleaguered guards were another gift, something to make the people feel safer.

He watched as Palpatine left the god-awful ship and was met by Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. He smiled and nodded to them. Travien couldn't hear what was happening but he seemed to be thanking the Jedi for their work. Fair enough, although he would have to help keep Anakin away from the devious, plotting, traitorous bastard.

Travien was amused to see Palpatine's eyes widen slightly as the he noticed the soldiers around the courtyard wearing Sith armour and the HK series droids. There was no-way that father would have passed up mentioning the HK droid in his holocron. Travien smiled to Palpatine as he approached the Queen and himself,

He bowed and Padmé forced a smile, "Congratulations on your election, Chancellor." While Travien was whispering in the back of her mind, _'Remember, he has no idea that you know who he is. Information that you deny the enemy is a weapon, do not let him know.'_

Palpatine smiled, "Your efforts have saved our people, your majesty. It is you who should be congratulated. Together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."

Padmé nodded stiffly and Palpatine turned to Travien, "And you Baron Shan, I can even now see how much you have helped our world." He said, indicating the ranks of soldiers and droids,

Travien smiled and nodded, "It is the least I can do, a small apology from the Star Forge for having done so little to be prepared for such a catastrophe. I am sure that our services will be available to Naboo in the very near future." He said smiling. Padmé noticed with some satisfaction that Palpatine's smile became forced after that. They separated and went their own ways. The celebration later on, and the official signing of a treaty between the Naboo and the Gungans, went off without a hitch. Everything had gone perfectly.

* * *

Three days after the celebrations, after the delegates and Jedi had all returned home. The Jedi had been annoying Travien incessantly by warning him that the Star Forge was a dangerous artefact, it seemed that Anakin had told one of the Masters innocently about seeing a 'wizard cool space station that was bigger than a planet', which set the rabble off preaching at him. Of course the Forge was bloody dangerous, it was powerful and anything that was powerful was dangerous. He snorted, it was bloody ridiculous some of the things these Jedi had come out with.

As predicted Nute Gunray had pleaded to the entire Senate that Travien was a Sith Lord and that he had been under the influence of a Sith Lord when he attacked Naboo. Travien marvelled at the stupidity required for Gunray to turn around and say no, that was a different Sith Lord. The Republic 'knew' that the Sith had been dead for a millennia, now they were supposedly everywhere. He was practically laughed out of the court for that and his family decided that he would utilise the services of a hired representative.

Travien walked into the throne room to see that Padmé was behind her desk and hard at work. He walked up to her and bowed,

"You summoned me, your majesty." He said formally,

Padmé smirked, "Mostly because I'm the only one who can." She looked at him puzzled, "You're not wearing your armour?"

Travien shrugged, "No real need for it at the moment. I'm not going to war, it turns out that my armour doesn't protect me as much as I had hoped and I figured, well maybe it's time to design something new. You're not wearing your make-up." He stated in return,

Padmé smiled, "No, no formal events for the moment. I'm just sorting out the rebuilding. I had no idea that that Trade Federation could do so much damage in just three weeks. Those droids of yours are miracle workers."

Travien smiled and shrugged, "I like to think so. They're certainly better than the incompetent knuckle draggers I kept hiring at the beginning."

Padmé nodded understandingly, "Where did you get the design for small four legged insect-like droids about the size of a beach ball?"

Travien grinned at that, "That was a modification actually. The original design was about four, five times the size. It was an assault droids around the time of the Jedi Civil War. I took the cannon off of the top, made it small and along with making the legs more mobile I gave it the ability to build things. That includes more construction droids if necessary but they're barely more self aware than a brick."

Padmé nodded happily, "Either way, they've sped up the reconstruction massively. Naboo owes you a great debt."

Travien waved his hand, "You didn't call me here for that, you know as well as I do that I'll never call it in. Come on; tell me what you wanted to tell me."

Padmé smiled and sighed, "I still can't get anything past you. Well, firstly is that Anakin was accepted into the Jedi Order." Travien's eyebrows raised and he smiled,

"Really? Good, I have to admit, he might make a good Jedi."

Padmé nodded, "I think so too. They've made Obi-Wan Kenobi a Jedi Knight and Anakin has been made his apprentice." Travien cringed, "I know how you feel, Travien. I don't think that Obi-Wan is the best master for Anakin but the Council felt that it was Jedi business. I did ask that Anakin be allowed to visit Naboo occasionally to see Shmi, I take it you know that she settled here?"

Travien shrugged, "To be honest the woman seems to be avoiding me for some reason. I figure that she's probably uncomfortable with me so I haven't exactly gone out of my way to find out about her."

Padmé acknowledged that, "Fair enough, she does seem nervous about you. The Chancellor has again stated his desire to clear up corruption in the Senate, if only to make it easier for him to change things to the way that he wants. Are you sure that was a wise idea?" she asked him,

Travien sighed, "The corruption had spread so far that the Trade Federation could get away with anything Padmé. The only person with enough will power, or a decent lack of morals, to get things sorted was Palpatine. Besides, it's not like he can take absolute rule anyway, there are far too many checks in place for him to do anything quickly."

She nodded, "I hope you're right. Now, how is your project going?"

He grinned, "Fantastically. Droids have set down on fifteen different planets that nobody was using or claiming, each of them perfect for agriculture. HK is just putting the finishing touches on the semi-sentient automated defences and I'll be putting equipment down in the week. Jabba the Hutt has agreed to trade me some materials like the necessary plant life and seeds to make the project self sustaining in exchange for some armoured transports. I'm giving him ones that were standard when Dad was a padawan. They'll hold out against pirates and thugs but have little chance against a regulated police force. If he wants something bigger then he'll have to come up with something to trade."

Padmé smiled, "I always wondered why you never wanted to include Naboo is that spreading influence of yours."

Travien shrugged, still smiling, "That's easy. I have no intention of living on the Star Forge like mum and dad. It's nice to stay there but I feel like I've moved away from home now, I'm not so eager to move back. Naboo is my home and it stays separate from my little coalition of worlds. Besides, once I get a flourishing society together, with people rather than droids, I was hoping to tie my influence in with yours. The Forge is listed as my property for a title held on Naboo after all."

"That it is." Agreed Padmé. She was about to say something else when a handmaiden rushed into the room. She bowed before the Queen who waved a hand for her to rise,

"Sabé, what's got you into a hurry?" she asked,

She stood up, "Milady, there's something I think you should see. There is something on the Holo-net." Padmé nodded and Sabé switched on the holo-transmitter and backed up to the appropriate point where a newscaster was smiling,

'This in the news today recently elected Chancellor Palpatine praises Queen Amidala of the Naboo for a heroic rescue of her people. He states that the heroism of her, a Lord Baron Shan, and several other Naboo citizens saved the lives of many when they drove off an invading force of droids under the control of Nute Gunray the Viceroy of the trade federation, who is currently awaiting trial. Gunray claims his actions were dictated by the gang land war between two Sith Lords. Chancellor Palpatine has come forward stating that while the Lord Baron Shan is indeed a Force sensitive of quite some skill he has seen no evidence that the man is a Sith Lord, nor of Queen Amidala who is claimed to be one of his students.' Travien smirked as Padmé raised her eyebrows but the recording continued, 'The Chancellor was quick to offer the grieving families of Naboo the condolences of the Republic and is on record as stating that "For what little comfort it may bring to the families grieving their friends and loved ones I, along with the support of the Senate, will moved to ensure that a tragedy of this magnitude can never happen again", this is a hopeful stance from what appears to be a strong administration. Our best wishes to him.'

The reporter froze for a second as a piece of paper was handed to her and she visibly blanched,

'We have just received word of an attack on Cato Nemoidia. The terrorist was seen at the site of the attack, apparently watching the disaster unfold and was described as seven feet tall wearing a hooded cloak. The only distinguishing feature that could be made out was a pair of red glowing eyes. Two hundred thousand Nemoidians are reported dead in the detonation of three seismic charges on one of the Bridge Cities. No reports have been issued but the investigation has found absolutely no leads linking this attack to well…anything. Several teams from a nearby Republic Security Force base are assisting in the clear up of the damage and more bodies are being located by the hour. Estimates say that the casualties may total up to two hundred and seventy five thousand dead. That is all the information we have right now…' Sabé cut the transmission off,

"How could that have happened? Who in the galaxy did the Nemoidians piss off?" The other two just shook their heads and Sabé left, still trying to puzzle it out. Padmé turned to Travien,

"How does it feel?" she asked curiously. He knew there was no malicious intent behind the question. She just wanted to know what was going on in his mind and gauge his 'recovery' from being a mass murdering bastard.

He shook his head and smiled wearily, "It's never about feeling good Padmé. A part of me wishes that they were the only blood on my hands. That was a necessity. Do you know what dad told me about war and conflict in general?" Padmé shook her head and he continued, "There can be no civility without the fear of reprisal. The people who need to are going to make the connection that the retaliation came from Naboo. I won't let this planet be walked over, this is my way." Padmé nodded sadly and Travien shrugged, "I know that I will receive my punishment for this in the next life, but it does prevent someone else having to do it in my place."

He got up and walked around the desk until he stood behind the throne and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned back into the embrace,

"Please tell me this won't happen again?" she almost pleaded.

"It won't sweetheart." He reassured her, "Never again." Padmé closed her eyes, revelling in the feeling of not having to be strong for him and then remembered the results of a search she had asked her handmaidens to do for her,

"By the way, Travien, I was looking for something I thought might help you," she said.

"Oh, what might that be?" he asked absently,

"I was looking for a way to fix your eyes so that you don't have to rely on the Force to see. Have you ever heard of a planet called Kamino?" she asked.


End file.
